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Airline websites set to improve
Transcript
24 November 2013
Roberta: This week a new rule of the Air Carrier Access Act in the US was announced that will improve how people with disabilities access information and services online for booking flights. And this will impact major Australian airlines. Here to tell us more is Media Access Australia’s Clarizza Fernandez. Welcome Clarizza.
Clarizza: Hi Roberta.
Roberta: Now can you tell us about the new rule that is part of the Air Carrier Access Act?
Clarizza: Certainly. So originally the Air Carrier Access Act since 1986 was about discrimination towards people with disabilities on flights, so for example, the Act makes sure that transportation of people with disabilities isn’t refused. At the time this was a huge breakthrough, because it meant that people with disabilities can be treated fairly, and it also meant their disabilities weren’t questioned or considered a factor in being issued a ticket, like all other passengers wanting to fly. So the new rules today relate very much to how technology has evolved and how most people book flights, and that’s online. So it makes sense to amend the Act based on this essential service. The new rules mean that airline website pages for booking and changing reservations needs to be accessible, so people with disabilities or who use assisted technology can independently book or change their flight reservations. I should also mention that the Act specifically mentions that these airline website pages must comply with international web content guidelines, so this is known to developers as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, and to the level of compliance is stated as Level AA. As well as websites, checking kiosks at airports must also meet access requirements; the minimum requirement is to have at least 25% of kiosks in each location to be accessible. One other interesting thing is that the new rules also require travel agents to give their discounts to customers with a disability who can’t access their website in order to get tickets.
Roberta: So how will this improve flying to the US for passengers?
Clarizza: It will certainly improve flying to the US passengers and people with disabilities because it means they have the option to be able to purchase tickets online and make changes to their bookings, and this could be in the comfort of their own home and through their own personal devices which might have specific accessibility features set up. So it’s a lot more convenient, and even if you don’t have a disability, buying tickets online is convenient; it also gives people a sense of independence.
Roberta: Clarizza, how about in Australia? Are we seeing anything like this being introduced?
Clarizza: Unfortunately we haven’t got anything like this in place as yet, but I should mention that flights from major Australian airlines, that is Qantas and Jetstar, that services to the US will be affected by this and will be required to make these changes as well. So there is one good thing that we do in Australia, and that’s in relation to Qantas; they currently provide accessible in-flight content, such as new bulletins that are captioned. They also caption safety briefings and monthly “welcome aboard” messages are captioned as well. We’re hoping that this type of thing that the US passes is, pushes Australia really to improve the situation here as well.
Roberta: So when can we expect the changes to take place?
Clarizza: Twelfth of December this year, so that’s the 12th of December 2013 is when the ruling will come into effect. And so airline websites must meet access requirements within two years of this date. And this also applies to kiosk installed three or four years after this date. There are a lot more specific details on our website as well if people are interested.
Roberta: And can you just give our listeners that website, so that they can go to that and find out more about it?
Clarizza: Yeah, it’s mediaaccess.org.au.
Roberta: Well, this week a new rule that we’ve been talking about of the Air Carrier Access Act in the US was announced, and it will improve flying for people with a disability, and we’re looking forward to it being here in Australia to do the same thing here. Thank you Clarizza.
Clarizza: Thanks Roberta.
Roberta: I’ve been speaking with Clarizza Fernandez from Media Access Australia, and Media Access Australia are supporters of this programme.