Re: Remember Southwest Airlines?

That's a good thing, right?  

-Kerstin

Joe Clark wrote:

>Well, after winning an ADA complaint about the inaccessibility of
>their Web site, Southwest Airlines is suddenly promoting the changes
>it has made to improve accessibility:
>
>X-URL:
>    http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=SVBIZINK3.story&STORY=/www
>    /story/05-12-2003/0001944827&EDATE=MON+May+12+2003,+05:48+PM
>
>   Southwest Airlines Selects Deque System's RAMP Software and Services
>   For Implementing Web Accessibility
>
>     Comprehensive Software Solutions from Deque to Improve Accessibility
>                       For Southwest Airlines Web Sites
>
>    FAIRFAX, Va., May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Deque Systems, an end-to-end
>accessibility solutions provider, announced today that Southwest Airlines
>(NYSE: [42]LUV) will use its evaluation and repair tool RAMP(TM), Robust
>Accessibility Management and Production, to improve web site accessibility for
>their blind and low vision customers.  Deque is able to offer software
>products and also a full breadth of services to organizations in need of an
>accessibility process that is repeatable and measurable.
>    Deque specializes in making an organization's web content accessible to
>people with disabilities.  Although not yet required to by law, commercial
>companies are beginning to notice the value of providing accessible technology
>to meet the needs of a diverse set of people.  With forward-thinking, well-run
>companies like Southwest Airlines making the commitment to making its online
>information accessible, removing the barriers to the World Wide Web is sure to
>become as prevalent as the ramps that exist for physical spaces today.
>    "Southwest Airlines values the importance of an accessible web site and
>has committed to provide one to their customers," says Cheryl Holmes, Vice
>President of Sales & Marketing at Deque Systems.  "Southwest also understands
>this is an ongoing commitment and vigorously examined the many avenues and
>solutions before choosing Deque."
>    "Southwest prides itself on the simplicity and ease of southwest.com, and
>this product will enable us to provide affordable air travel to customers who
>need assistive technology to navigate the World Wide Web," said Kevin Krone,
>Southwest's Vice President of Interactive Marketing.  "We will be working with
>Deque to develop and implement this solution."
>    "We are very proud that Southwest Airlines has partnered with Deque to
>enhance the accessibility of its web site and recognizes our role as a leading
>player in providing Web Accessibility Solutions," added Preety Kumar, Chief
>Technical Officer of Deque.  "It is a perfect example of our capability to
>provide an integrated product and services solution to accelerate our
>customer's delivery of an accessible web presence."
>    Southwest elected to receive on-site training to efficiently use the key
>strengths provided by RAMP(TM).  This will enable Southwest developers to gain
>the knowledge necessary to develop and maintain an accessible web site.
>Recognizing that functional testing is an essential step, Southwest Airlines
>will rely on the Deque Assistive Technology Lab for testing with the Screen
>Readers and other Assistive Technology on the market today.
>    "Southwest's commitment became quite evident to me during my functional
>review of their site.  It also became clear that they would benefit from our
>expertise in ensuring its site was coded for accessibility," said Senior
>Accessibility Engineer with Deque, Sailesh Panchang who lost his sight ten
>years ago.  "A core value of the American society is independence.
>Information technology accessible using my Screen Reader is what allows me to
>be independent. I will be able to make reservations online myself, which may
>not seem to be a big deal, but it truly improves my quality of life."
>
>    About Deque Systems -- Deque Systems, Inc is a pioneer in the field of
>information accessibility.  Deque's software solution, RAMP(TM), with its
>unparalleled product depth, automates analysis and remediation of Section 508
>rules and W3C Web Accessibility Initiative's Web Content Accessibility
>Guidelines, and provides efficiencies of over 95% as compared to a manual
>effort.  In addition, RAMP(TM) is written in Java for platform independence
>and is also accessible to people with disabilities. [43]http://www.deque.com
>
>    About Southwest Airlines (NYSE: [44]LUV) -- In 2002, the Jupiter Media Metr
>ix
>named Southwest the airline that best utilizes the Internet and provides brand
>synergy between its main line and online presence.  According to Jupiter
>Airline CORE (Composite Rating of Online Effectiveness) Index, Southwest
>Airlines ranks among the top companies in online sales performance.  The
>Online Sales Index is based on self-reported ticket sales data, and represents
>the percentage of tickets sold from a specific airline's web site for 2001.
>The award embodies those U.S. airline carriers that best leverage the assets
>of the Internet to boost business and paramount in moving their Customers to
>the online channel.
>
>
>      News Headlines from:
>   PR Newswire - United Business Media
>   [INLINE]
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>
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>  
>

Received on Monday, 19 May 2003 19:45:37 UTC