[Iabs-talk] {Disarmed} Fwd: New DOT Rules Make Flying Easier for Passengers with Disabilities

[Denise Avant]

Hi Michal,

I don't know the answer to your question. I am just forwarding this along for the benefit of our members 

Denise Avant
dravant at ameritech.net

P.S.  Please give to the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois Annual
Appeal by sending your tax deductible donation to NFBI c/o Glenn Moore III,
Treasurer P.O. Box 1065 Elgin, IL 60121.

On Nov 5, 2013, at 6:13 PM, Nowicki, Michal Jerzy <nowicki4 at uic.edu> wrote:

> Hi Denise,
> 
> Do you happen to know if this rule also applies to mobile aps?
> 
> Michal
> 
> On Tue, November 5, 2013 11:52 am, denise avant wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>> Begin forwarded message:
>> 
>>> From: "Moore-Rhodes, Brandon" <Brandon.Moore at AMERICANBAR.ORG>
>>> Date: November 5, 2013 at 10:38:00 AM CST
>>> To: 3D at MAIL.AMERICANBAR.ORG
>>> Subject: FW: New DOT Rules Make Flying Easier for Passengers with
>>> Disabilities
>>> Reply-To: "The Disability Discussion Docket (3D) - Official e-mail list
>>> of              the Commission on Disability Right"
>>> <3D at MAIL.AMERICANBAR.ORG>, "Moore-Rhodes, Brandon"
>>> <Brandon.Moore at AMERICANBAR.ORG>
>>> 
>>> FYI
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> DOT 92-13
>>> Monday, November 4, 2013
>>> Contact: Bill Mosley
>>> Tel.: (202) 366-4570
>>> 
>>> New DOT Rules Make Flying Easier for Passengers with Disabilities
>>> 
>>> WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today
>>> announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), in its
>>> ongoing effort to ensure equal access to air transportation for all
>>> travelers, is requiring airline websites and automated airport kiosks to
>>> be accessible to passengers with disabilities. In addition, DOT will
>>> allow airlines to choose between stowing wheelchairs in a cabin
>>> compartment on new aircraft or strapping them to a row of seats, an
>>> option that will ensure that two manual, folding wheelchairs can be
>>> transported at a time.
>>> 
>>> The new rules are part of DOT’s continuing implementation of the Air
>>> Carrier Access Act of 1986.
>>> 
>>> “All air travelers should be treated fairly when they fly, regardless
>>> of any disabilities they may have,” said Secretary Foxx. “These new
>>> rules build on our past work in ensuring that our air transportation
>>> system is accessible for everyone, while balancing both airlines’ and
>>> passengers’ need for flexibility.”
>>> 
>>> Under the new websites-and-kiosks rule, covered airlines are required
>>> within two years to make pages of their websites that contain core
>>> travel information and services accessible to persons with disabilities,
>>> and to make all of their web pages accessible within three years.
>>> Websites are required to meet the standards for accessibility contained
>>> in the widely accepted Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
>>> The requirement applies to U.S. and foreign airlines with websites
>>> marketing air transportation to U.S. consumers for travel within, to or
>>> from the United States.
>>> 
>>> The rule also requires ticket agents to disclose and offer web-based
>>> discount fares to customers unable to use their sites due to a
>>> disability starting within 180 days after the rule’s effective date.
>>> Airlines are already required to provide equivalent service for
>>> consumers who are unable to use inaccessible websites. Under the new
>>> rule, airlines must also offer equivalent service to passengers with
>>> disabilities who are unable to use their websites even if the websites
>>> meet the WCAG accessibility standards.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> In addition, any automated kiosks installed at U.S. airports for
>>> services -- such as printing boarding passes and baggage tags --must be
>>> accessible to passengers with disabilities until at least 25 percent of
>>> all kiosks at each airport location are accessible. Even if no new
>>> kiosks are installed, 25 percent of kiosks at each airport location must
>>> be accessible within 10 years. The standards for accessible kiosks are
>>> based on those set by the U.S. Department of Justice for ATM and fare
>>> machines in its 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act rule as well as the
>>> Section 508 standards for self-contained closed products, such as
>>> copiers.
>>> 
>>> DOT’s wheelchair rule provides airlines with more flexibility because
>>> it permits airlines to transport passenger wheelchairs by strapping them
>>> across a row of seats using a strap kit that complies with applicable
>>> safety standards, in addition to stowing them in a closet or similar
>>> compartment. In 2008, DOT issued a rule prohibiting airlines from using
>>> the seat-strapping method on new aircraft as an alternative to stowing
>>> the manual wheelchair in a closet or similar compartment. In that same
>>> rule, DOT allowed the use of a seat-strapping method on existing
>>> aircraft. Based on a fuller evaluation of the costs and benefits, DOT
>>> has now revised its position to also allow the use of seat-strapping on
>>> new aircraft subject to certain conditions.   For example, if an airline
>>> chooses to use the seat-strapping method to stow a wheelchair, it must
>>> transport two wheelchairs in the cabin if requested unless stowing the
>>> second wheelchair would displace other passengers.
>>> 
>>> If an airline chooses to use a closet to stow a wheelchair, then it will
>>> still be required to stow only one wheelchair in the cabin. However, in
>>> this case it must install a sign or placard prominently on the closet
>>> indicating that a wheelchair and other assistive devices are to be
>>> stowed in this area with priority over other items brought onto the
>>> aircraft by other passengers or crew, including crew luggage.
>>> 
>>> The rule on accessible websites and kiosks is available on the Internet
>>> at www.regulations.gov, docket DOT-OST-2011-0177. In addition to
>>> accepting public comments on the web and kiosk rule through this
>>> website, the Department partnered with Cornell University’s
>>> eRulemaking Initiative (CeRI), Regulation Room, designed to improve the
>>> public’s ability to understand and participate in the rulemaking
>>> process. A goal of the CeRI team is to make Regulation Room as
>>> accessible to as many users as possible.  This partnership supports
>>> President Obama’s open-government initiative.  The final rule on
>>> wheelchairs is available at the same website at docket
>>> DOT-OST-2011-0098.
>>> 
>>> -END-
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> U.S. Department of Transportation | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE |
>>> Washington DC 20590 | 202-385-HELP (4357)
>>> 
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> 
> 
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