[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. Its estimated more than
48.9 million people live with disabilities in the
US1, including more than 7 million with a visual
disability2. Expedias 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 webpages 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, weve 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
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