The final deadline is nearly upon us for the Air Carrier Access Act, but Airlines seem far from ready…

07 Dec 2016

  • Tweet this item
  • share this item on Linkedin

Airlines around the world are struggling to even come close to complying with regulations imposed in the US that stipulate they must ensure their websites are accessible to all customers, including those with disabilities.Download full Report

The objective of ensuring all passengers have equal access to air transportation by imposing internationally recognised accessibility requirements is laudable. However, the initial deadline of 12 December 2015 to make core pages for booking and changing reservations has overstretched most airlines and they are currently non-compliant.  

The number of airlines affected is extremely large; the US Department of Transportation (DOT) initiates the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) on the websites of all US and foreign airlines that market air transportation services to US consumers for any routes to or from the United States.

The widespread difficulties across the industry were highlighted in a recent Sitemorse compliance audit across nearly 60 global airlines, which revealed the shocking revelation that 0% of the pages on the airline companies’ websites passed Level A accessibility and only 13.8% achieved Level AA accessibility. 

DoT LogoWith these organisations failing in their duty to provide a certain level of service to all their customers, there is a clear imperative to use automation in the auditing and compliance of their digital presences in order to work towards complying with the growing regulatory demands in the sector.

Based on the current situation in the airline industry, there will be an almost universal failure by these major operators to comply with the second deadline imposed by the DOT: On 12 December 2016 all the remaining pages on their websites must be accessible.

Such is the complicated nature of the task, even the regulator has failed to reach the required accessibility levels on its own website. The reality is that many organisations have expressed their desire to adopt the standards but have been thwarted by the sheer complexity, time required and level of training and support needed in order for them to fully comply.Example stock image of a Guide Dog

The level of difficulty is such that there is a feeling in the industry that the standard required is unachievable. This is unfortunately detracting from the positive objective of ensuring websites are accessible to all people and that nobody is excluded from purchasing flight tickets online.

Some pragmatism is needed, to help ensure all the airlines move past the runway to achieve the standards required of them. This will involve the DOT considering how it enforces the regulations in the future, which is a sensitive issue because the organisation’s own online presence does not currently comply with the standards that it demands of the world’s airlines.

There may be other very important areas for these airlines to deal with, but web accessibility cannot be neglected. Any failures or lack of compliance can mean unnecessary attention from regulatory authorities. 

For information on what to do if an airline's site is not accessible, please visit http://www.lflegal.com/2015/12/airline-web/ 

Download the Airlines Website Accessibility Report.