[Nfbnet-members-list] Expedia unveils enhancements in website accessibility

National Federation of the Blind webmaster at nfb.org
Thu Oct 19 23:27:27 UTC 2017


Expedia unveils enhancements in website accessibility

Expedia and National Federation of the Blind 
celebrate key accessibility improvements



Bellevue, Wash., October 19, 2017 – Expedia today 
announced details around site enhancements as 
part of an ongoing relationship with the National 
Federation of the Blind. It’s estimated more than 
48.9 million people live with disabilities in the 
US1, including more than 7 million with a visual 
disability2. Expedia’s dedicated UX designers, as 
well as product and software engineers, are 
actively engaged in ensuring travelers with 
disabilities have excellent experiences when 
visiting sites like Expedia.com and Travelocity.com.

The Expedia Accessibility Technology Team 
consists of front-end developers and testers who 
use a variety of methods to design and test site 
improvements that make the Expedia.com and 
Travelocity.com websites as inclusive as 
possible. Screen readers (software applications 
that read out a webpage’s text content and convey 
visual cues) for example, are commonly used 
amongst the blind community. To make it easier 
for these readers to relay information, Expedia 
engineers have attached text to pictures and 
structured the code in a way that allows users of 
assistive technology to efficiently navigate the 
product pages. The National Federation of the 
Blind has provided insights, feedback, and 
testing on the implementation of these 
accessibility components to help ensure a great user experience.

Expedia continuously assesses its products, 
utilizing industry standards that address not 
only blind users who use assistive tech but also 
those who need captioning for video or audio, who 
do not use a mouse, or who have other differences 
that make these features worthwhile. In fact, 
Expedia has found that these enhancements improve 
the user experience for all travelers, not just 
those with unique needs. While recent activity 
has been focused on the current site, Expedia is 
also working to educate and train all of its 
engineers to design and develop their products, 
mobile and desktop, from the ground up with accessibility in mind.

“Blind people must have equal access to websites 
like Expedia to live the lives we want, 
independently,” said Mark Riccobono, President of 
the National Federation of the Blind. “Expedia is 
a distinguished partner in supporting our mission 
of ensuring that blind people have equal access 
to goods and services online and continues to 
champion accessibility overall through its 
product offerings. We are extremely pleased with 
the progress we have made in our relationship. We 
know that every user benefits from the 
enhancements we have worked on together.”

“At Expedia, our goal is to help people go 
places, and our efforts in improving website 
accessibility for the blind are helping a 
community of people that previously experienced 
difficulties in navigating online travel booking 
paths,” said Aman Bhutani, President, Brand 
Expedia Group. “Through our relationship with the 
National Federation of the Blind, we’ve expanded 
our duty to bring travel to everyone and are 
encouraged and excited by our progress in this space.”

###

1US Census Data

2National Federation of the Blind

About Expedia, Inc.

Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) is the world's 
largest online travel company, with an extensive 
brand portfolio that includes leading online travel brands, such as:
    * Expedia.com®, a leading full-service online 
travel brand with localized sites in 33 countries
    * Hotels.com®, a leading global lodging 
expert operating 89 localized websites in 41 
languages with its award winning Hotels.com® Rewards loyalty program
    * Expedia® Affiliate Network (EAN), a global 
B2B brand that powers the hotel business of 
hundreds of leading airlines, travel agencies, 
loyalty and corporate travel companies plus 
several top consumer brands through its API and template solutions
    * trivago®, a leading online hotel search 
platform with sites in 55 countries worldwide
    * HomeAway®, a global online marketplace for 
the vacation rental industry, which also includes 
the VRBO®, VacationRentals.com® and 
BedandBreakfast.com® brands, among others
    * Egencia®, a leading corporate travel management company
    * Orbitz® and CheapTickets®, leading U.S. 
travel websites, as well as ebookers®, a 
full-service travel brand with websites in seven European countries
    * Travelocity®, a leading online travel brand 
in the U.S. and Canada delivering customer 
service when and where our customers need it with the Customer First Guarantee
    * Hotwire®, inspiring spontaneous travel through Hot Rate® deals
    * Wotif Group, a leading portfolio of travel 
brands including Wotif.com®, Wotif.co.nz, 
lastminute.com.au®, lastminute.co.nz and travel.com.au®
    * Expedia® Media Solutions, the advertising 
sales division of Expedia, Inc. that builds 
creative media partnerships and enables brand 
advertisers to target a highly-qualified audience of travel consumers
    * CarRentals.com™, a premier online car 
rental booking company with localized sites in 13 countries
    * Classic Vacations®, a top luxury travel specialist
    * Expedia Local Expert®, a provider of online 
and in-market concierge services, activities, 
experiences and ground transportation in over a 
thousand destinations worldwide
    * Expedia® CruiseShipCenters®, a provider of 
exceptional value and expert advice for travelers 
booking cruises and vacations through its network 
of over 235 retail travel agency franchises across North America
    * SilverRail Technologies, Inc., a global 
rail retail and distribution platform connecting 
rail carriers and suppliers to both online and offline travel distributors

About the National Federation of the Blind

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), 
headquartered in Baltimore, is the oldest and 
largest nationwide organization of blind 
Americans. Founded in 1940, the NFB consists of 
affiliates, chapters, and divisions in the fifty 
states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. The NFB 
defends the rights of blind people of all ages 
and provides information and support to families 
with blind children, older Americans who are 
losing vision, and more. We believe in the hopes 
and dreams of blind people and work together to 
transform them into reality. Learn more about our 
many programs and initiatives at 
<https://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=9623&qid=1975322>www.nfb.org.








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