Developing a Scale Measuring Perceptions of “Liveness” During ICT Augmented Performances Designed to Increase Accessibility on Site at Music Festivals

Potential audience members who are d/Deaf, disabled, or neurodiverse (AMDDN) face difficulties accessing music festivals, where live music performances are increasingly augmented with ICT, challenging perceptions of “classic liveness.” Building on previous research relating to augmented formats and viewpoints more generally, this article proposes a liveness scale to measure audience perceptions of performances at music festivals that have been augmented to increase accessibility at music festivals for AMDDN. A Likert scale was developed, tested, and refined utilizing an adapted version of Gehlbach and Brinkworth’s six-step process to specifically address on-site accessible augmentations. Overall, 282 responses were collected across four iterations of primary research from six music festivals. Discussions with the population of interest and expert validation preceded cognitive pretesting and pilot testing. Potential for ongoing use of the resultant scale on site at music festivals was recognized and opportunities identified for further scale development to explore AMDDN perceptions off site.