[Nfbk] Public comment urged for new air travel

[Nickie Pearl]

Please take advantage of this easy way to provide public comment concerning
air travel for people with disabilities.



Eric





FOR RELEASE: Monday, Sept. 19, 2011

Contact: Kathleen Corcorabn

Phone: (703) 299-6738
kmc327 at cornell.edu

Cornell e-Rulemaking Initiative's Regulation Room Bolsters Public
Participation in New Department of Transportation Proposals Affecting Air
Travelers with Disabilities

ITHACA, N.Y. - The Cornell University e-Rulemaking Initiative (CeRI) and the
Department of Transportation (DOT) are working together to make it easier
for the public to comment on proposed new federal regulations requiring air
travel websites and airport check-in kiosks to be fully accessible to
travelers with disabilities.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there are more than 15 million adults in
the United States with vision, auditory, or mobility disabilities. About 30
percent of adults with disabilities travel by air, and the DOT expects this
number to rise if it were easier to buy tickets and other services online,
and to check-in using kiosks. Airlines and online travel agencies have
argued, however, that the costs of achieving full accessibility are too
great.

Travelers with disabilities, web designers, usability experts, and others
with an interest in this proposal can use CeRI's online participation site,
Regulation Room (www.regulationroom.org), to get easy-to-read explanations
of the proposal, look at the cost and benefit estimates, and discuss how the
proposal could be improved. Then, CeRI will summarize the discussion on
Regulation Room and submit it as a public comment that DOT will consider in
finalizing the accessibility regulations.

"The Department's partnership with the Cornell eRulemaking Initiative makes
it easier than ever for the public to comment on our proposed rules," said
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "I encourage everyone interested
in our proposed website and kiosk accessibility to share their thoughts on
the user-friendly Regulation Room site."

"CeRI and DOT are both committed to getting more of the public involved
meaningfully in the rulemaking process, and we believe that Regulation Room
efforts so far have been quite successful," said Cynthia Farina, Professor
of Law and CeRI principal researcher. "We are especially excited about
doing the air travel accessibility rule. DOT needs help from travelers with
disabilities and from others with practical experience in accessible design
to answer many questions the Department has about creating reliable,
cost-effective standards for websites and kiosks."

This is the fourth rulemaking in which DOT and CeRI are using Regulation
Room to make it easier for ordinary people to participate effectively in
important government policy decisions. "We look forward to again providing
an open, transparent, and collaborative forum for people to have their
voices heard on an important federal policy initiative," said Professor
Farina.

The Cornell e-Rulemaking Initiative (CeRI) is a multidisciplinary research
collaboration bringing together Cornell University faculty and students from
Computing and Information Science, Law, and the Scheinman Institute on
Conflict Resolution. Working with legal informatics professionals at the
Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School (law.cornell.edu), CeRI
researchers consult with government agencies on, and engage in theoretical
and applied research about, the technology and practice of e-rulemaking and
related areas of e-government.

Regulation Room (www.regulationroom.org) is a CeRI pilot project that
provides an online environment for people and groups to learn about,
discuss, and react to selected rules proposed by federal agencies.
Contributions become part of a formal public comment prepared by CeRI
researchers and submitted to the federal agency for use in preparation of a
final ruling. Regulation Room is supported by grants from the National
Science Foundation, Google, and the IBM Center for the Business of
Government.

Regulation Room on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/regulationroom

Regulation Room on Twitter: http://twitter.com/regulationroom

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