[Nfbf-l] Air Travelers, Please Participate

[Patricia A. Lipovsky]

Air Travelers: Please Participate If You Can

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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