Opening Doors

From Tech Inclusion:

Another area is accuracy; accurate information is vital if you are a traveler with a disability. I have Spinal Muscular Atrophy and have very specific needs when it comes to traveling, which I communicate clearly. Yet it can still be incredibly difficult to find accessible places to stay you can trust. For example, property owners have told me their apartment is step-free, but forget about the small step up to the front door — which my wheelchair can’t ignore. My team will focus on developing new policies and features to ensure accessibility information is as accurate as possible.

And we won’t stop there. I want to make sure that accessibility is at the heart of every element of our company and our community, whether it’s accessible experiences or any other new specially adapted product.

Moreover, we’ll use our global resources to cater to people with disabilities beyond mobility, working closely with every community to ensure our platform is welcoming to as many people as possible. Lastly, we’re committed to making sure that Airbnb is a great place to work if you have a disability, and will be launching new initiatives to increase the number of applicants with disabilities.

It is a bold, ambitious agenda, and a necessary one. Even 25 years after the UN International Day for Persons with Disabilities was declared, we remain in the early stages of a tectonic shift in how people with disabilities are treated. We cannot allow another generation to pass without fundamental change. (Read more.)