The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA, 49 U.S.C. § 41705) prohibits discriminatory treatment of persons with disabilities in air transportation. The Department of Transportation amended its rule implementing the ACAA (14 CFR Part 382, Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Transportation) to require U.S. and foreign air carriers that operate at least one aircraft having a seating capacity of more than 60 passengers to make their primary Web sites that market air transportation to the general public in the U.S. accessible to individuals with disabilities. Among the features carriers must implement on their accessible web sites by December 12, 2015, is an online service request form for passengers to request disability accommodations required by Part 382 to enable access to air transportation.
These information collections support the DOT strategic goal of increasing access to transportation services for all by 1) providing passengers with disabilities an effective and convenient mechanism to communicate in advance the accommodations they need to access air transportation, and 2) notifying users accessing a third-party application or external web site from the carrier's Web site that the same accessibility features and policies may not be available. In addition, the latter information collection is necessary to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standard 2.0, Level AA, mandated by the November 2013 final rule amending Part 382.
There are one-time burdens associated with these required collections and carriers achieved compliance with the requirements in prior years. One time burden on carriers to create, post, and test the service request form on their Web sites; and one time burden on carriers to create, post and test the disclaimer notice on their Web sites; recurring burden on carriers to associate the disclaimer notice with new links to external Web sites and third party software added to their Web sites. For the requirement to create, post, and test the service request form on their Web sites, we estimate a one time burden of 32 hours per respondent and no additional annual burden unless the carrier voluntarily elects to modify or improve the form.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.