14 CFR Parts 382 and 399; 49 CFR Part 27 - Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel: Accessibility of Web Sites and Automated Kiosks at U.S. Airports - Preamble

A. Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review), Executive Order 13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review), and DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures

This action has been determined to be significant under Executive Order 12866 and the Department of Transportation's Regulatory Policies and Procedures. It has been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget in accordance with Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) and Executive Order 13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review) and is consistent with the requirements in both orders. Executive Order 13563 directs agencies to propose or adopt a regulation only upon a reasoned determination that its benefits justify its costs, tailor the regulation to impose the least burden on society consistent with obtaining the regulatory objectives, and in choosing among alternative regulatory approaches, select those approaches that maximize net benefits. Executive Order 13563 recognizes that some benefits and costs are difficult to quantify and provides that, where appropriate and permitted by law, agencies may consider and discuss qualitatively values that are difficult or impossible to quantify, including equity, human dignity, fairness, and distributive impacts. This rule promotes such values by requiring the removal of barriers to equal access to air transportation information and services for passengers with disabilities.

In the Department's view, the non-quantifiable benefits of kiosk accessibility, which the tables below do not reflect, are wholly consistent with the ACAA's mandate to eliminate discrimination against individuals with disabilities in air transportation. They include the increased ability of individuals with disabilities to independently access and use with equal convenience and privacy, and without stigmatization, the same air transportation information and services available to individuals without disabilities. Specific non-quantifiable benefits associated with the kiosk accessibility requirements also include an enhanced sense of inclusion for travelers with vision or mobility disabilities, as well as a decrease in the stigma of special treatment at the ticket counter and in their overall waiting time to check-in. Having a choice of check-in options (e.g., either the automated kiosk or the check-in counter), depending on their anticipated transaction time or personal preference also has value to many travelers with disabilities, even if its monetary value cannot be quantified. The availability of accessible kiosks will also reduce waiting times at ticket counters for travelers without disabilities who are required to or choose to use the airline ticket counters for ticket purchase or check-in and free customer service agents from routine check-in and seat assignments tasks to focus on individual ticketing and baggage issues. Travelers with and without disabilities will also benefit from the design features of accessible kiosks (e.g., travelers who have difficulty reading English may benefit from having the ability to hear the kiosk instructions). We note that some of the non-quantifiable costs include the sunk costs of inaccessible kiosk models currently under development and occasional increases in kiosk waiting times that may result for other travelers initially as new users become familiar with kiosk features and applications.

Regarding the Web site accessibility requirements, we anticipate both non-quantifiable and intrinsically qualitative benefits. Web sites that meet the WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards will have a cleaner layout and less content per page, resulting in improved accessibility not only for people with severe vision impairments, but also for those with less severe disabilities such as low vision, developmental delays, or epilepsy. Web site accessibility will also remove a barrier to travel for independent people with severe vision impairments, making it more likely they will travel and increasing the number of trips they purchase. For carriers, we expect the process of making their Web sites accessible (e.g., developing a detailed Web site inventory) to result in an improved ability to identify and clean up existing errors and performance issues (e.g., broken links and circular references).

There are also potentially important categories of costs associated with the Web site accessibility requirements that are intrinsically qualitative or for which monetary values cannot be estimated from the available data. Bringing an entire air travel Web site into compliance with WCAG 2.0 Level AA, for example, may reduce options for innovation and creative presentation of Web content. Carriers will also need to allocate programming resources for creating and updating Web pages to ensure regulatory compliance that could be used to otherwise improve or increase functionality on their primary Web sites. Also unknown are the costs the Department will have to incur to enforce these rules by acquiring and maintaining the ability to monitor covered air travel Web sites, conduct periodic testing and verification, and work with carriers to understand and remedy identified Web site noncompliance.

The Department believes that the qualitative and non-quantifiable benefits of the Web site and kiosk accessibility requirements nonetheless justify the costs and make the rule cost beneficial, even without the economic benefits displayed in the tables below. The non-quantifiable benefits to individuals with disabilities, in particular, are integral to achieving full inclusion and access to the entire spectrum of air transportation services, which is the overarching goal of the ACAA.

The final Regulatory Evaluation established that the monetized benefits of the final rule exceed its monetized costs by $13.5 million using a 3-percent discount rate. The benefits and costs were estimated for the 10-year period beginning two years after the effective date (which was assumed to be January 1, 2014) for the Web site accessibility requirements and three years after the effective date for kiosk accessibility requirements. The upfront compliance costs incurred for Web sites in 2014 and 2015 and for kiosks in 2015 and 2016 were rolled forward and included in the 10-year analysis period results cited in the final regulatory evaluation. The expected present value of monetized benefits from the final rule over a 10 year period using a 7-percent discount rate is estimated at $110.7 million, and the expected present value of monetized costs to comply with the final rule over a 10-year period using a 7-percent discount rate is estimated at $114.7 million. The present value of monetized net benefits over a 10 year period at a 7-percent discount rate is −$4.0 million. The table below, taken from the final Regulatory Evaluation, summarizes the monetized costs and benefits of the rule.