[NFB-NM] Expedia unveils enhancements in website accessibility

Sat Oct 21 03:54:19 UTC 2017

From: NFBNet-Members-List [mailto:nfbnet-members-list-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of National Federation of the Blind via NFBNet-Members-List
Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2017 5:27 PM
To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Expedia unveils enhancements in website
accessibility

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.comR, a leading full-service online travel brand with
localized sites in 33 countries          
*	Hotels.comR, a leading global lodging expert operating 89 localized
websites in 41 languages with its award winning Hotels.comR Rewards loyalty
program   
*	ExpediaR 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        
*	trivagoR, a leading online hotel search platform with sites in 55
countries worldwide         
*	HomeAwayR, a global online marketplace for the vacation rental
industry, which also includes the VRBOR, VacationRentals.comR and
BedandBreakfast.comR brands, among others         
*	EgenciaR, a leading corporate travel management company       
*	OrbitzR and CheapTicketsR, leading U.S. travel websites, as well as
ebookersR, a full-service travel brand with websites in seven European
countries    
*	TravelocityR, 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 
*	HotwireR, inspiring spontaneous travel through Hot RateR deals 
*	Wotif Group, a leading portfolio of travel brands including
Wotif.comR, Wotif.co.nz, lastminute.com.auR, lastminute.co.nz and
travel.com.auR      
*	ExpediaR 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.comT, a premier online car rental booking company with
localized sites in 13 countries          
*	Classic VacationsR, a top luxury travel specialist            
*	Expedia Local ExpertR, a provider of online and in-market concierge
services, activities, experiences and ground transportation in over a
thousand destinations worldwide 
*	ExpediaR CruiseShipCentersR, 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 www.nfb.org
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