[Travelandtourism] Updates for Disney Travel website from one our travel agents

Tue Nov 26 14:16:44 UTC 2013

Good morning all and I am also responding back to Anahit LaBarre, who has been part of the NFB Travel & Tourism Division for years as a board member, who also owns her own travel agency in Colorado.
In any case, I had sent this e-mail out to our members whether you are a travel professional or a customer who would like to try out the Disney Parks, planning website to make sure all of this is accessible at  http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/ 
I am not posting the Disney Travel Agent website, because, only Travel Agents have access to this site.
Before I post my own findings along when I get the information from the rest of you. I want to thank Mark Jones, who has not only been on the Echevarria Travel Show, but has also been on Board of Directors Conference Calls in the past, giving us a tour of the Magic Kingdom back during our National Convention in Orlando, last July, but also came and spoke not only at the NFB Travel & Tourism meeting at convention, but also spoke at the NAGDU Meeting.
So far, Anahit, is the only person who has responded to these issues.
We need those that are travel professionals to give your feedback, we cannot have Disney change things unless they know what the problem is.
Anahit and I are both Zoomtext users (magnification users), I know some of the Screenreader programs, but we need people like Maurice Shackelford or others that are totally blind that use screen readers on a regular bases to give us the information in a timely manner, please send all information back to info at nfbtravel.org or cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com, I am collecting all information, to send in one e-mail back to Mark Jones.
I might ask someone that I trust personally, who is not a travel professional to give me feedback on the Disney Travel Agent website as well.
What we need for those of you who are travel professions to do is and please be very descriptive, like what was posted below, but also these issues, which comes directly from Mark and the website team.
Hi again Cheryl and my apologies for the delay in getting some additional information for you about the Disney Travel Agent site.  The team has worked hard over the past several months on enhancements to the site.  In an effort to more specifically troubleshoot the concerns/challenges you’re still having with the site, the team has asked me to forward the following questions to you… 1.       Are the current challenges ones you’re having or ones others you’ve spoken with are having? Please also review the following list of questions and indicate where you are/your colleagues are experiencing challenges:2.       Login to disneytravelagents.com– Can access / Cannot access?3.       Accessing the Quote or Book eCommerce module, including:3a. Packages or Room Only booking engine – Can access / Cannot access?3b. Ticket stores – Can access / Cannot access?3c. Retrieve reservations– Can access / Cannot access?4.       What do you mean exactly by the inability to access “all videos”?  Can you provide specifics (what videos, on what pages, etc.)?5.       What eTools can you access / not access?              5a. Disney Destinations Genius training courses– Can access / Cannot access (all of the courses or specific courses)?5b. eBrochures– Can access / Cannot access?5c. Online Post Office (emails) – Can access / Cannot access?5d. YouTube videos– Can access / Cannot access?5e. Collateral Store (order print brochure materials) – Can access / Cannot access?5f. Disney Print Connection (order customized print pieces) – Can access / Cannot access?5g. Disney Content Connection (develop a Disney Destinations web site) – Can access / Cannot access?5h. Disneycopyright.com (access digital assets) – Can access / Cannot access? I appreciate it very much Cheryl! Mark

Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 of NY StateLeading the Way in Independent Travel!
Cheryl Echevarria, Ownerwww.echevarriatravel.com631-456-5394reservations at echevarriatravel.com
 Take the stress out of this year’s holiday shopping with NFB’s Bid for Equality national online auction: Black Friday, Nov. 29, to Giving Tuesday, Dec. 3. View our must-have donations and register to make your Bid for Equality. The future is in your bid! Echevarria Travel has partnered with Braille Smith. www.braillesmith.com for all her braille needs.  Gail Smith is the Secretary of the NFB of Alabama

From: alabarre at labarretravel.com
To: cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com
Subject: Any updates on the Disneytravelagent website
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 06:53:55 -0700

Good morning Mark. This is Anahit LaBarre writing. First of all let me thank you for taking the time and trying to address the issues we have brought up to your attention. I will mention the issues I have had with Disney’s web site in a minute. First, I would like to let you know that I took my kiddos to Disneyland for Fall break. Of course, as I expected, they LOVED it! So did I! I do want to talk about the assistive devices. I have requested it at the California Adventure Park. It did not work there. The staff worked so hard to fix it but no result. They were very courteous! After that I borrowed it from the Magic Kingdom, one did not work at all. The next one worked in Magic Kingdom but not in the other park. I tried so many different things and finally about 45 minutes later it did work. So I did want to bring this up to your attention because it seemed to me that while the staff there tried very hard it either was an equipment issue or I am thinking maybe you could work with them on how to troubleshoot because I could tell they felt so badly and really wanted to make it work. If you would like I would be happy to provide details as to what exactly the problem was.  As far as the web site for Disney. A very important part to know about me is that I am not the JAWS user. JAWS is a screen reader program. I use a magnification program for the computer. The huge problem I had when I was completing the Disney Destinations Genius training courses was that the content was too graphic and since magnification program only allows you to view part of the screen, it was too difficult to be able to read what the questions were in the quiz portion. As far as the training itself, I will be honest with you, I did try a screen reader and it did not work for all the portions of it. I will take the time in the next few days and go over a few things on the web site and see if I can access them. I will be back with more details in a few days. I also think we should try and reach out to any travel agents who are consistently JAWS or Windowseye user. It is good to have both screen reader and magnification software. Again, I would like to thank you for taking the time to address the issues. Warmly,Anahit LaBarre  3a. Packages or Room Only booking engine – Can access / Cannot access?3b. Ticket stores – Can access / Cannot access?3c. Retrieve reservations– Can access / Cannot access?4.       What do you mean exactly by the inability to access “all videos”?  Can you provide specifics (what videos, on what pages, etc.)?5.       What eTools can you access / not access?               5a. Disney Destinations Genius training courses– Can access / Cannot access (all of the courses or specific courses)?5b. eBrochures– Can access / Cannot access?5c. Online Post Office (emails) – Can access / Cannot access?5d. YouTube videos– Can access / Cannot access?5e. Collateral Store (order print brochure materials) – Can access / Cannot access?5f. Disney Print Connection (order customized print pieces) – Can access / Cannot access?5g. Disney Content Connection (develop a Disney Destinations web site) – Can access / Cannot access?5h. Disneycopyright.com (access digital assets) – Can access / Cannot access? From: Mark.Jones at disney.com
To: cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 12:14:43 -0800
Subject: RE: Any updates on the Disneytravelagent websiteHi again Cheryl and my apologies for the delay in getting some additional information for you about the Disney Travel Agent site.  The team has worked hard over the past several months on enhancements to the site.  In an effort to more specifically troubleshoot the concerns/challenges you’re still having with the site, the team has asked me to forward the following questions to you… 1.       Are the current challenges ones you’re having or ones others you’ve spoken with are having? Please also review the following list of questions and indicate where you are/your colleagues are experiencing challenges: 2.       Login to disneytravelagents.com– Can access / Cannot access?3.       Accessing the Quote or Book eCommerce module, including:3a. Packages or Room Only booking engine – Can access / Cannot access?3b. Ticket stores – Can access / Cannot access?3c. Retrieve reservations– Can access / Cannot access?4.       What do you mean exactly by the inability to access “all videos”?  Can you provide specifics (what videos, on what pages, etc.)?5.       What eTools can you access / not access?               5a. Disney Destinations Genius training courses– Can access / Cannot access (all of the courses or specific courses)?5b. eBrochures– Can access / Cannot access?5c. Online Post Office (emails) – Can access / Cannot access?5d. YouTube videos– Can access / Cannot access?5e. Collateral Store (order print brochure materials) – Can access / Cannot access?5f. Disney Print Connection (order customized print pieces) – Can access / Cannot access?5g. Disney Content Connection (develop a Disney Destinations web site) – Can access / Cannot access?5h. Disneycopyright.com (access digital assets) – Can access / Cannot access? I appreciate it very much Cheryl! Mark  From: cheryl echevarria [mailto:cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2013 9:55 AM
To: Jones, Mark
Subject: RE: Any updates on the Disneytravelagent website So do we, I cannot move forward with it, and I would love to finish. Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 of NY StateLeading the Way in Independent Travel! Cheryl Echevarria, Ownerwww.echevarriatravel.com631-456-5394reservations at echevarriatravel.com Your old car keys can be the keys to literacy for a blind child.  Donate your unwanted vehicle to us by clicking www.nfb.org/vehicledonations or call 855-659-9314. Echevarria Travel has partnered with Braille Smith. www.braillesmith.com for all her braille needs.  Gail Smith is the Secretary of the NFB of Alabama
  From: Mark.Jones at disney.com
To: cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2013 09:42:55 -0800
Subject: RE: Any updates on the Disneytravelagent websiteGood morning Cheryl and thanks for your note.  Hope all is well with you!  I’ve got a request out to my Travel Industry Sales and Marketing partners requesting an update.  More information soon. I appreciate it! Mark From: cheryl echevarria [mailto:cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, November 02, 2013 8:21 AM
To: Jones, Mark
Subject: Any updates on the Disneytravelagent website Good morning Mark:

I was just on the site this morning, any idea when the site will be accessible to the blind, since it all video.

Cheryl Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 of NY StateLeading the Way in Independent Travel! Cheryl Echevarria, Ownerwww.echevarriatravel.com631-456-5394reservations at echevarriatravel.com Your old car keys can be the keys to literacy for a blind child.  Donate your unwanted vehicle to us by clicking www.nfb.org/vehicledonations or call 855-659-9314. Echevarria Travel has partnered with Braille Smith. www.braillesmith.com for all her braille needs.  Gail Smith is the Secretary of the NFB of Alabama 		 	   		  