TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Denise Brodey

What Can the Travel Industry Learn from a Pizza Maker? A Lot.

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Photo of Dominos pizza and garlic knots with a soda and a cell phone.

OUR TAKE: Experts say there has been a nearly 200% increase in ADA website accessibility-related lawsuits between 2017 to 2018.  How will Google’s algorithm come into play? What can the travel industry do to be proactive? That’s where we hope play a significant role.

The TravelAbility Summit is the first-ever conference to bring together the travel industry with product and service innovators dedicated to improving travel experiences for individuals with physical, visual, auditory and cognitive disabilities. “The goal is to help bring accessibility to a higher level,” said Jake Steinman, founder of TravelAbility Summit.

Not sure if your website is compliant with accessibility requirements—or if it even needs to be? Perhaps the best place to start is by taking a cue from Domino’s. According to featured speakers at the upcoming TravelAbility Summit, including an attorney who specializes in defending hotels with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claims, companies in the travel sector can learn a lot from Domino’s recent ADA-related legal setback.  

For those readers not familiar with the case: In 2016, Guillermo Robles filed a lawsuit against Domino’s after he had attempted, at least two times, to order a pizza from the food chain’s website and mobile app.  At issue? Robles is blind and uses screen-reading software that allow him to successfully navigate websites. As it turns out, Dominos isn’t one of them. 

Robles is just one of an increasing number of people with disabilities in the USA who are suing businesses they say are discriminating against them by not providing accessible websites as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In fact, ADA web accessibility-related lawsuits increased 181% from 2017 to 2018, with 814 cases in 2017 and 2,285 lawsuits filed in 2018, according to tracking by the accessible technology firm UseableNet,who says the pace of ADA lawsuits is equivalent to one per hour. 

“Website accessibility is the latest trend in ADA litigation and this ruling essentially provides a green light for a slew of new predatory lawsuits by attorneys using digital crawlers to target travel supplier’s websites that are not accessible,” says Jake Steinman, founder of the TravelAbility Summit.  “On the other side, there will also be a surge in spam e-mails from third-party web vendors trying to sell accessibility upgrades to anyone and everyone.  Travel Tripper’s Nate Lane recommends that companies should exercise prudence by requesting references and focus on those with developing travel websites. But what may motivate suppliers and even destinations to justify investing inaccessibility, even more, may be rumors that Google’s algorithm may eventually bury websites that are non-compliant off the first page of organic search results reminiscent to what happened to websites five years ago that were not mobile-friendly. The result of this was an explosion of innovative development that ultimately led to Responsive Design, which today is universally incorporated in every mobile design. Hopefully, history will repeat itself.” 

Robles’ case against Domino’s, which was originally dismissed in 2017 by a district court judge in California, was re-instated in January of this year unanimously by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9thCircuit. In sending the case back for the lower court judge to decide, Circuit Judge John B. Owens wrote, “At least since 1996, Domino’s has been on notice that its online offerings must effectively communicate with its disabled customers and facilitate ‘full and equal enjoyment’ of Domino’s goods and services. While we understand why Domino’s wants DOJ to issue specific guidelines for website and app accessibility, the Constitution only requires that Domino’s receive fair notice of its legal duties, not a blueprint for compliance with its statutory obligations.”

The lawsuit has now been active for more than three years—and gained more ground this month when the Supreme Court denied Domino’s petition to hear its case and determine whether its website is required to be accessible to the disabled. Domino’s position in its request to the Supreme Court was the ADA doesn’t apply to websites and mobile apps since the law established in 1990 predates the birth of the modern web and no clear rules to follow regarding online accessibility exist. Attorneys for Robles say otherwise, and the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case means Domino’s must defend its position in court.

According to legal experts, the Supreme Court’s decision is a huge loss for the company and huge win for people with disabilities. It’s also another warning sign for the travel and hospitality industry, says Stuart Tubis, an ADA defense attorney who will be presenting at TravelAbility Summit. “All travel-related businesses should understand the legal liability of having a public website that isn’t accessible. It can cause a lawsuit.” Tubis regularly counsels businesses on the full spectrum of ADA compliance and represents their interests in civil litigation and Department of Justice investigations. Nate Lane, senior director of digital platforms, Travel Tripper & Pegasus, which specializes in helping hotels build accessibility into their websites, emphasizes the time is now to take the initiative. “Even before the Domino’s ruling we looked at accessibility as something that was mandatory, because so many of the lawsuits had merit. My advice is to not bother to debate the merits of an accessible lawsuit, but be proactive because it’s the right thing to do in the first place,” says Lane, who will also be presenting at the TravelAbility Summit. When asked how to evaluate the range of accessibility service providers, Lane suggested that they should make sure they have travel-industry related expertise, use a holistic approach, and have verifiable references. “Many hotels get into trouble with multi-vertical vendors who don’t understand the nuances of travel,” Lane continued. “The effect of this ruling for existing vendors such as us, will be to enhance and bring accessibility offerings to even higher levels.”

According to the Napa Valley News, California wineries have been hit hard with web accessibility lawsuits this year and when the marketing director of one of Sonoma’s most prominent wineries was asked why she finally made their website accessible, she said: “It’s the most effective form of customer service we can possibly offer.” 

TravelAbility Summit attendees will be able to pick the brains of five presenters with expertise in website accessibility.  Nate Lane, Travel Tripper; Stuart Tubis, ADA hotel defense attorney, Jeffers, Mangel, Butler,  Shenyse Lujan, Audioeye; Chris Lona, CL Designs.  

See the newly updated agenda here.  Register here.

This piece was updated on October 15, 2019.

 

Launchpad Update: The Scoop on Our Mentoring Event on November 11

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illustration of a red rocket launching and the words travel ability launchpad: boosting innovation in travel and accessibility

LaunchPad: At-a-Glance Look at Innovations and How they can be used.

LaunchPad will bring together socially conscious entrepreneurs, who have created products and services that  make travel easier for people with disabilities, and established travel end users—hotels, airports, attractions, and destinations— “The goal is to connect entrepreneurs with new distribution channels in the travel industry and to help jumpstart new accessibility initiatives,” says Jake Steinman, founder and CEO of both LAUNCHPAD and TravelAbility Summit.  The accessible travel market has been estimated to be in excess of 17 billion dollars* annually and growing at a rapid pace as Baby Boomers age into a disability.

Our Top 5 Most Popular Stories Of 2019 Highlight the Hottest Products and the Secrets of Hotel Accessibility

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woman smiling in a tee with suitcases behind her and on her lap waiting at a train station in a wheelchair
Although it didn’t make it into the top five, this TravelAbility Update: What We’ve Learned So Far (Sept. 26) came close. To discover what we discovered, READ MORE. 

OUR TAKE: Every one of these posts helps to make the business case for accessibility—no surprise there. But you will also be interested to see the variety of products, tech, expert ideas and corporate plans out there. There’s a nugget of usable information in all five of these:

1.    Two Companies Disrupting the Wheelchair Rental Market for Good (Sept.5) READ MORE

2.    Top 10 Signs That Accessibility Is Going Mainstream (Sept 26) READ MORE 

3. Airlines, Hotels, Attractions Prove Disability Inclusion Isn’t Just the Right Thing to Do—It’s Great for Business (Aug. 8) READ MORE

4.    50 “Accessible Hacks”​ to Make Travel More Enjoyable for People with a Disability (Aug. 8) READ MORE

5.    EXPERT Q&A: The Secret to Creating a 5-Star Accessible Hotel Website on a 2-Star Budget (Aug.8) READ MORE

Could Keroul Be the Model for the Accessible DMO of the Future?

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left to right: Isabelle Ducharme, Jake Steinman, founder of TravelAbility Summit with Andre Leclerc of Keroul

by Jake Steinman

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet the founders and president of Keroul (translated loosely in French: Quebec Rolls), perhaps the world’s most innovative destination centric organization advocating for disabled travelers, in their offices in Montreal’s historic Olympic stadium. The organization, and its founder, Andre Leclerc, are about to celebrate their 40th anniversary.  Here, a look back and what we can all learn from their endeavor, how they work and a brief Q&A:

Andre Leclerc, who was born with cerebral palsy, founded Keroul after he was picked up hitchhiking to meet his girlfriend. He had been living in a facility for people with disabilities—and the police believed he had “escaped.” It was then that Leclerc recognized the need for an organization that would fight for the rights of people with disabilities and decided to focus on travel and leisure activities.  He would be up against some big challenges. In the 1970s,  there were many transportation issues for the disabled.  While on a trip that included able-bodied members of the group, he realized a sensitivity about people with disabilities that made some of his trip mates uncomfortable. This year LeClerc turns 65 and will retire. Isabelle Ducharme, president of the Keroul Organization, who has worked with Leclerc on day-to-day operations for the past decade will lead. 

We believe Keroul has created a business model that can partially be replicated by many state and regional organizations in the U.S. as baby boomers begin aging into a disability will need a trusted neutral source such as DMO’s.  We took a look at the stunning legacy LeClerc will leave his team and Quebec and are pleased to have the chance to pass along their wisdom. 

Gaining Prestige (and $5 Million Dollars)  The process of acquiring grant funding is not always simple, but it has been successful for the Keroul organization. Today, Keroul is funded by grants from the province of Quebec and Federal entities, private donations, and fundraisers.  By providing persistent advocacy and positive ideas, they gained media attention and political clout. When, years ago, the minister of tourism entrusted Keroul with $5 million in grant funding to disburse over five years to tourism establishments, they planted the seeds for Quebec to become more accessible for locals and tourists. Today Ducharme oversees grants in which Keroul finances up to 80% of the grant, with a limit of $50,000. 

Keroul Is An Accessibility Information Hub  Today the Keroul website has become the epicenter of accessible travel for the province of Quebec. In addition to the funding, Keroul provides a variety of other services for travel suppliers such as accessibility assessment, consulting, and training which can generate additional funds.  Keroul maintains a staff of 10 people full time, several of which perform on-site evaluations of hotels, attractions, and museums after which they receive a designation as accessible, partially accessible or not accessible.   There are 84 accessible hotel properties in the Quebec City area. For information about venues in the province of Quebec, visit www.quebecforall.com/en

A Brief Q&A with Mr. LeClerc and Ms. Ducharme

Q:Can you give us an example of one of the companies that received a Keroul grant? 

Leclerc: Yes, one recently went to an apple picking tour operator who added a lift that would make his tour tram fully accessible.  We provided 80% of the funding and they provided the rest.

Q: Where do you see disability travel five or 10 years from now?

Leclerc: We believe the movement to accessibility will accelerate; we already see it moving more rapidly, not only in the volume of requests for the grants—we’ve had 155 so far—but also by the interest in our services.  While we once had to convince travel enterprises to use our services, now, hotels, attractions, and suppliers are calling us because they want to be evaluated and promoted through our marketing efforts.  

Q: When you receive requests from travel suppliers (i.e. hotels, tours, attractions) to verify their level of accessibility, do you send your staff to verify that, or do you work with outside disability organizations to do this.  If this is internal, how many members of your staff perform this?  

Ducharme: We mostly send our staff. As we have some mandate with organizations across the province, there are often enough opportunities to send someone from Keroul, depending on if the company is willing to wait a few weeks. Otherwise, we also have a network of evaluators that can do the job as well, but only if it’s related to the assessment, as they are only trained to fill out forms for our database, not recommend modifications. Those external evaluators are mostly architects and professionals from the tourism industry. We are contemplating the idea of having people from other disability-related organizations.

Q: How many companies do you certify in an average year? 

Ducharme: We added or reassessed 131 establishments to our database this past year. Next year, we are confident that it will be even more, as two other employees recently joined our team. We are now up to four accessibility advisors, overseen by one manager. 

Keroul will also be overseeing the third edition of  Destinations for All, a worldwide conference covering accessible travel,  organized by Open Doors Organization, in Miami in 2021. Isabelle Ducharme will explain her business model and what other tourism organizations can adapt at TravelAbility Summit, November 12-13, 2019.  

Pssst. Here’s What No One With A Disability May Have Told You (but they wrote it down here)

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young woman in wheelchair v fashionably dressed with leopard jacket outdoor shot
How I Arrived in New York Without My Legs

OUR TAKE: We can never get enough of real stories about real people with lived experience—whether they’re testing a new itinerary, telling the tale of how their wheelchair was lost on a plane trip or explaining how the chairs in a restaurant can keep someone in a wheelchair from enjoying the place. Two of our favorites: Why Are Airline Bathrooms So Crappy? and How I Arrived In New York Without My Legs. These real voices give you a hint of how our work—at the intersection of disability and travel—has the possibility to be incredibly impactful thanks to you.