Digital accessibility and missed opportunities in the travel industry

Digital accessibilityand the travel industry

TLearn webinar7 August 2014

Your hosts

Kevin MayEditor & moderator

Gene QuinnCEO & producer

Your presenter

Robin ChristophersonHead of Digital InclusionAbilityNet

Webinar archive at www.abilitynet.org.uk/webinars

Digital Accessibility and the Travel Industry

Tnooz Webinar

7 August 2014


Welcome

Robin Christopherson, AbilityNet


Review of the accessibility of 12 major travel and tourism websites undertaken in May and June 2014

• The business case

• Methodology

• Key findings

• Q+A

Please use the questions box to ask questions at any stage

State of the e-Nation


• From design through to UAT

• Accessibility Testing

• User Testing

• Desktop, Mobile and Tablet

• Accessibility Accreditation

• Service Agreements

• My Computer My Way

AbilityNet


Travel and Tourism and Accessibility

The marketplace

• Billion dollar global business

• Disability awareness rising

• Resorts and carriers becoming accessible

• Digital is first step in many journeys yet not so good

This webinar:

• An opportunity to learn and improve – not name and shame


The Business Case for Accessibility

A huge marketplace

• At least 1.1 billion people globally have a disability

• Controlling over $4 trillion annually

• A market the size of China


Changes in consumer behaviour

Changing expectations

• Paralympics

• Mobile/tablet

• Usability expectations

• Personalisation


Legal risks: Don’t think it doesn’t happen

Equality Act - UK

ADA/Section 508 - US

• Sale of Goods

• Recruitment

• Employment


Key findings: An opportunity missed

Only one site approaches technical compliance

Every site has usability problems

None exemplifies good practice


The Results: Airlines

Red – many issues identified - immediate action required.Amber – some issues identified - attention needed.Green – few or no immediate issues identified.


The Results: Travel companies

Red – many issues identified - immediate action required.Amber – some issues identified - attention needed.Green – few or no immediate issues identified.


Methodology

• Test for technical compliance (WCAG2.0 AA)

• Test for ‘real-life’ accessibility using disabled users

• Consultant review of accessibility help info


Technical Compliance

• Tested using Compliance Sheriff

• Covers home page and all linked pages

• Results reviewed by a consultant

• Score evaluated as red, amber or green


User Testing

Tested 2 core user journeys

Testers include:

• Dyslexia – 6m of the population – of which 4m severely so

• Sight loss – 2 million in UK

• Hearing Loss – 10 million in UK

• British Sign Language user – approximately 50,000 users

• Able-bodied ‘control’ users


What the users said: Saga


What the users said: Saga

A user with dexterity issues who uses the keyboard instead of a mouse to access the internet

“I could not see what link was active so it was impossible to tab around the page to make any choices.

“Making active links visible (i.e. show where the mouse is) is essential to navigate the page in any way.”


What the users said: Monarch


What the users said: Monarch

A user with poor vision said:

“When booking flights and choosing dates the calendar appeared very small making it hard to read.

“The layout wasn’t clear and there was too much going on.”

“The colour contrast (grey on white) was very difficult to read and certain headings were very small.”


What the users said: Club Med


What the users said: Club Med

A blind person:

“When I was at school, Turkey was in Asia, but I see no mention of it here.”

“I’m invited to search for a resort on a map, which is useless to me as a blind person … this company would not get business from me.”


Accessibility Help

• Looking for best practice

• Using our experience as expert witnesses

• The quality of the Accessibility Help Page is a useful indicator

• Plus, we look for additional accessibility that disabled users are catered, e.g. BrowseAloud or My Computer My Way


British Airways: Accessibility and Site Help

www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/accessibility-site-help

http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/accessibility-site-help





Conclusions: An Opportunity Missed

Don’t be surprised

• This is a typical set of results

• They raise legal, marketing and governance issues

• Almost every issue could be addressed quickly and easily

Some easy wins and an opportunity for competitive advantage

• Better designed pages and forms

• Better user experience for all users

• Reach more customers


E-Nation report

All the results including user comments

www.abilitynet.org.uk/enation-travel-july-2014

Airline and Travel Sector Reports

Available on request from

[email protected]

Get the reports

http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/enation-travel-july-2014

http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/enation-travel-july-2014


Contact Us

Talk to us about our Accessibility Services

www.abilitynet.org.uk/accessibility-services

[email protected] +44 1926 465 247

[email protected] @abilitynet

More free webinars from AbilityNet: www.abilitynet.org.uk/webinars

Next AbilityNet webinar:

The Business Case for Accessibility, September 2014

http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/accessibility-services

mailto:[email protected]



http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/webinars

Thank you!

Send your questions and comments to [email protected]

Replay and presentation of webinar will be available on www.tnooz.com


http://www.tnooz.com/

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