Regulations ease airline website use for disabled passengers

WASHINGTON – Disabled travelers should find it easier to access airline websites under a new set of rules the government issued Monday.

Airline website pages that have core travel information and services must be accessible to the disabled within two years, the Department of Transportation said, and all pages on airline websites must within three years be readily available to people with disabilities.

The new regulations also require airline ticket agents to disclose – and offer – Web-based discount fares to customers unable to use their sites due to a disability. Airlines already are required to provide equivalent service for consumers who are unable to use inaccessible websites.

At the same time, the department announced that it has fined US Airways $1.2 million for failing to provide adequate wheelchair access to passengers in Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C. It’s one of the largest penalties of its kind ever assessed by the agency in a disability case.