[Blindtlk] Fw: [Travelandtourism] Spirit Airlines is nolongeraccessible using speech [Incident: 120307-000422]

[Reese]

Chris:

Keep in mind the ADA bill originally came out in 1990 way before the 
internet is what it is today.  The authors of the original bill could not 
see into the future so now the ADA has many wholes that Companies can work 
around and so Spirit Airlines is using one of them.  In no where in the 
original ADA bill is the inaccessibility of websites mentioned.  We need to 
urge our elected officials to revisit the original ADA bill and add these 
provisions.  Spirit Airlines has done there research and under the current 
laws, they don't have to make there site accessible.  Like it or not, these 
are the unfortunate facts.  I was hoping I could appeal to there fare 
customer service relations to at least do the right thing.  However, there's 
one thing I have learned about the airlines, they won't do nothing unless 
its mandated by the Government.

Reese

----- Original Message ----- 

Reese,

Great advocacy on your part!! Good for you!! It appears as though
Spirit Airlines is trying to make some kind of excuse for their
inaccessible Web site, and are politely dismissing the complaints
which you have filed with them as having no real legal backing.
After all, blind people can't possibly know the law, right?
Spirit Airlines has people to investigate this; just trust them!
But the problem is that these legal "experts" work for the very
company which is the subject of your complaints.  So it is only
natural that they will try to find some law or regulation to
cover their you-know-what's.  Maybe the DOT doesn't require them
to make their Web site accessible to us, but a law that
supercedes any DOT regulation, the ADA (passed by Congress and
signed into law by the then-President in 1990,) that does.  In
short, this response by Michelle of Spirit Airlines, in my
opinion, boils down to this: "The DOT doesn't require us to make
our Web site accessible, and therefore your complaint has no
legal precedent.  As far as we can tell, we're following the law,
so screw all you blind people!"