Business travel accessibility still a hurdle

While few bright spots have emerged as part of the global pandemic, the seismic shift to hybrid workplaces has been a game-changer for physically challenged workers.

"Hybrid and remote work make it easier for the physically challenged to be in the workforce,” said Mitch Gross, co-founder of accessibility-minded travel consultancy Accessio, which was established during the pandemic and now advises travel agencies and suppliers about offering programmes and solutions for this population. “DEI initiatives have specifically targeted this audience. As equals, they can have the full robust experience that every other employee has," Gross added, "except when they travel."

A high-profile example of the challenges some travellers face came in the shape of BBC journalist Frank Gardner's recent experience at London's Heathrow Airport when his wheelchair was not delivered to him upon landing. "It's happened again," he Tweeted. "Stuck on an empty plane at Heathrow airport long after everyone else is off - ‘no staff to get my wheelchair off the plane’. I am SO disappointed with @HeathrowAirport as disabled passengers are once again apparently the lowest priority."

According to Accessio, more than a quarter of the global population have some form of mobility limitation. In England, 18 per cent of 16-64 year-olds have a disability and one per cent of adults report use of a wheelchair, according to government statistics. Of disabled adults in England reporting disability, more than half (54 per cent) have a mobility impairment, 18 per cent have hearing impairments, and 16 per cent have vision-related impairments.

"We're not talking about a niche market," said the company's other co-founder, Laurent Roffe, who for a decade has operated a leisure-focused travel agency specialising in smoothing travel services and logistics for physically and neurodiverse travellers. "We're talking about a very large, very significant market that maybe wasn't visible until recently. And, certainly, a market that is not well-served – on the same level, with the same methodology or streamlining as other segments of the travel market."

One business traveller's experience

"I have always loved business travel," said one client of diversity and inclusion specialist Maiden Voyage who also uses a wheelchair for mobility. "There are obvious challenges of getting through an airport in a wheelchair. It's all very well dealt with but it's nerve-wracking," he said, adding that he makes plans to deal with the stress that results from the experience.

"I have an enormous checklist of medication and gadgets to get me through. And on the other end of the plane journey, [I worry,] will my wheelchair still be intact? These are my legs," he said.

The contrast between this traveller's complimentary stance toward the system and his preparations to deal with the stress of getting through that same system should be a clue that support levels for mobility challenged travellers could be improved. And what about the experience outside of the airport? Taxi service or car rental, trains, the guarantee of an accessible hotel room – is there a way to streamline the journey and reduce the uncertainty for travellers who may be more affected by service gaps or disruptions?

"I can probably speak for the industry," said Ariel Crohn, corporate meeting and travel manager for insurance provider Coverys, who has collaborated with the Global Business Travel Association's Ladders programme to contemplate DEI issues, including those for physically and neurodiverse travel populations. "We are lacking a centralised way to communicate the needs of these travelers to all the vendors," which results in fragmented pick-up when it comes to service levels and individual stressors through each step of the journey.

Crohn has also worked with her company's DEI lead for the past two years running company-wide focus groups and gathering information that she plans to apply to the travel programme for diverse travellers. Even with all the background work, she said, "I don't have all the answers. But it's not enough to listen to these stories. We have to do something, and as an industry we need to support these travelers more holistically."

Making it work

Accessio has ideas about how travel managers themselves can take some first steps, starting with incubating new models in an environment where organisations can exercise more control. Consider the meeting environment, said Gross.

"With meetings, you can work on these issues as a travel buyer," he said. "Start with a ten-person simple meeting, and really make it work for diverse participants." He advised starting local, with a meeting at a headquarters or regional location, then move to global. "At least make it so that when people come to visit, we give them this great experience." Once you have a model, he said, "you have a way to structure data that gets you further along than where you started." 

Travel and meetings managers may need more advice than "really make it work" even for a small event. Speaking on a BTN Group webinar last summer, International Association of Accessibility Professionals certification manager Sam Evans introduced the concept of Universal Design as one to contemplate as a starting point for inclusivity and accessibility.

"When we think about Universal Design, we have to expand our brains beyond what we consider our personal lived experience, and consider everyone's lived experience," she said. "[That includes] their physical needs but also different modes of delivery and giving people choices according to their preferences of taking in information."

Doing that will likely require a host of conversations and an effort to learn about those other "lived experiences." Crohn has engaged in that process with her DEI lead at Coverys and come away with new perspectives, she said.

"I now look at every single thing I do through the lens of inclusivity, and I did not do that prior to two years ago," she said. "I didn't even know what it meant."

Crohn specified the ways she now picks menus to be gluten free and provide choices that adhere to common restrictions like nuts or certain meats. She provides opportunities in the registration process for participants to share information that will improve their experience as an attendee. Most importantly, for Crohn, it’s about creating an environment of inclusivity for all while remaining mindful of attendees' unique needs.

"I really look at it through the eyes of, 'Am I being inclusive of as many people as possible?' And if the answer is no, what do I need to change or what approach can I adjust or who else can I bring into this conversation to make it more inclusive?"

Evans said it's not necessary to "boil the ocean" in one go, and one small change at a time is better than none at all. "On a scale of one to five, we all start at zero," she said. Over time, small changes can accumulate to new models that organisations can apply to more situations, including how they work with travel and meeting suppliers.  

Partnering for progress

Suppliers are taking note. Choice Hotels International head of associate diversity, equity and belonging Corinne Abramson told us, “We have an associate resource group that's dedicated to ensuring within our organisation that we think about the business in regard to including people with all different kinds of abilities."

Choice calls the group Enable, and Abramson said it continuously reviews Choice's offerings to ensure the company is thinking about all those lived experiences. "For example, do we have within our large meetings the ability to have closed captioning? What is the technology that we're offering, and what options can we toggle on for folks, and how do we make [those options] available?”

Meetings technology provider Cvent also has advanced its accessible options, and the company is working to further accessibility and inclusivity for meetings and events.

It recently hired Stephen Cutchins as senior product manager for accessibility to ensure Cvent technology platforms consider usability from the perspective of those who are blind, deaf or have physical disabilities. The company incorporates Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, as defined by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium, that level the playing field for such users.

"They are pretty technical standards and not a lot of people know about them," said Cutchins, citing best practices around colour contrast standards, images and "alt text" that make images not only readable but meaningful within the context of the other content on the page. "There are 78 'success criteria' defined in WCAG 2.1, and we have a third-party firm reviewing our technology so that we can be transparent about not only what we are doing well but also where we fall short. Because we know we aren't perfect, but building an awareness around this type of usability is critical for us so our own users can reach as many people as possible."

To that end, Cvent is not only baking WCAG standards into its own tools but also has started to provide guidance and prompts within the platform so users are alerted to issues with their own event registration builds and websites they create within the platform.

"We do 450,000 events a year, so that's at least 450,000 people who will realise these accessibility standards are out there," said Cutchins, adding that Cvent was also looking to formalise more education outside of the technical environment to raise awareness about accessibility standards. "One thing that's very cool about the accessibility guidelines is that when you follow them, you just create a better product for everyone."

Travel management company Diversity Travel said it frequently fields questions in RFPs about its proprietary booking technology and whether it meets WCAG standards, but also that it incorporates the ability to book access requirements such as wheelchair ramps or travel support.

Managing accessibility

While meetings offer a good environment to consider internal actions around accessibility for physical and neurodiversity, controlling experiences outside of those walls remains a challenge.

On the technology front, SAP Concur was sued in January for its TripIt website, which the plaintiff claimed discriminates against blind and deaf users by not providing adequate information and data configurations for such users to utilise the tool successfully.

In the UK, consumer campaign group Which? recently conducted research into the accessibility of five airlines' apps. Four of them failed to meet preferred standards, with only easyJet's app – which was found to be "easy to navigate when using a screenreader" – declared up to scratch.

Adi Latif, accessibility and usability consultant at AbilityNet, is blind and was approached by Which? to try booking a flight on the five apps. "The experience I had with the other apps... I just felt my blindness," said Latif.

He added: "It clearly highlights the problem faced by blind and disabled people on a daily basis having to battle against apps which are not accessible. It also shows that it doesn’t have to be this way, and easyJet provides a great example for others to follow."

Accessible technology options for corporate travel appear to be in development – and, according to Cvent senior director of product management Carl Aldrich, don't require heavy investment if they are considered from the get-go of product development. "It's not something that's very expensive to do right if you know what to do. And so that's why the awareness of it is so critical," he said.

Incorporating WCAG may be a great step forward for people with accessibility challenges but carrying that consideration from a digital environment into the physical world of travel remains a complex proposition, and one that will require a much bigger investment from all involved.

One European travel buyer, requesting anonymity, told us that while it was possible to achieve some good results for individual travellers – at considerable expense – there was no way to scale a viable solution with so many fragmented suppliers that would need to share a traveller's information across a host of touchpoints.

That company is looking for a travel management partner with the will and the expertise to bring the pieces together. "I see it as an incredible opportunity for a specialised TMC to bring to the marketplace," they said. "Our companies do their businesses a disservice when they cannot bring their best people to the table because of travel complexities. Making sure we are equipped to do that for our business can only make us better."