Service Animal Travel Solutions to Make Your Airline Travel More Accessible
Client: Flying with a service animal? Our Service Animal Travel Solutions can help make your next airline travel a smooth one.
Overview
To create service animal travel solutions, making it simpler to submit air transportation forms. A complex DOT Service Animal Air Transportation Form process requires submission 48 hours before departure.
- Cloud-native application was developed to track the status of the travel requests submitted by passengers by Air carriers and SATS admin.
- User role-based travel solutions such as Travel portal, Carrier portal, and Admin portal for admin to manage DOT forms.
- Accessibility was ensured in compliance with ADA regulations while adhering to CTA and GDPR requirements.
The Case
Getting on a flight and traveling is something many of us take for granted. We seldom think about people with disabilities who rely on service dogs for assistance, it is a challenge to take them on travel as airlines have specific rules and regulations. Under the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), a service animal is any animal that is individually trained or able to provide assistance to a person with a disability, or any animal that assists people with disabilities by providing emotional support. Proper documentation is required for passengers needing to travel with service animals. Our client is a non-profit organization working constantly to provide travel solutions for people with disabilities. The organization focuses on creating a society in which all people with disabilities have the same consumer opportunities as everyone else. They approached TA to develop service animal travel solutions, an application for passengers traveling with service animals to submit their service animal air transportation form for airline travel.
Challenges
Under the new Department of Transportation (DOT) law regarding service animals, the Service Animal Air Transportation Form must be submitted 48 hours before traveling with service animals. The Service Animal Air Transportation Form is intended to allow airlines to receive direct assurances from the individuals who rely on service animals of their animal’s good behavior and training. The DOT forms are aimed at assisting passengers traveling with service animals so that they are no longer required to navigate multiple forms from different airlines. At no cost, the passengers have the independence and control to maintain a valid form on file which will be used for every trip on participating airlines.
The challenges faced when traveling with service animals include:
Airlines require a traveler with a service animal to submit a DOT Service Animal Air Transportation Form when flying with service animals
Complex travel documentation process for people with disabilities who rely on service animals
Completed paperwork should be submitted at least 48 hours prior to departure
Solution
After filling out the electronic Service Animal Air Transportation Form, the traveler receives a unique identifier for that handler/animal combination. After booking on a participating airline, the traveler submits the unique identifier through the SATS system to receive authorization for travel, which will be confirmed through email. The application allows users to update their DOT forms as necessary. For instance, if vaccination dates or any other information has to be updated, the app makes it all possible.
User Roles
Key Features
Forms
Configuration
Travel portal for persons traveling with service animal to submit DOT form
Carrier portal for airlines managing travel requests from users
Camera button to capture screen recordings excluding the 2D elements which can be shared over Airdrop, mail, etc.
Admin portal for admin to manage DOT forms and reports
Submit DOT forms and travel requests
Email notifications on submit/update forms
On-demand PDF generation for DOT forms
Assistance in retrieving the service animal ID
View travel history
Role-based access (Admin, Supervisor, Agent)
Approve/reject travel requests
Email notification on approve/reject forms
Report incidents on animal behavior
Carrier Management
User Management
To review and process DOT forms submitted by travelers
To view travel requests
Approve/Reject the forms
Notification configuration (frequency, turn on/off notifications)
Email template configuration
Invalid keywords for flagging DOT forms to In-Review
Overview of the whole process – DOT & Travel form count, status etc.
Various chart
Trends on date basis
Analytical reports
Content structuring
Readability
Link text
Accessibility for all files
Color contrast
Fonts
Keyboard accessibility
Cloud native application to track the status of the travel requests submitted by passengers by Air carriers and SATS admin
User role-based travel solutions such as Travel portal, Carrier portal, and Admin portal for admin to manage DOT forms
Ensure ADA regulations for accessibility
Comply with the CTA and GDPR requirements
Single database to be used by all carriers
Monitoring and management of cloud services
Impact
Digital accessibility can level the playing field for people in the disabled community and allow for inclusion in all spheres. It is important that people with disabilities who need their service dogs to travel like everyone else. Our service animal travel solutions are aimed specifically to fulfill that goal.
The implications of the application on the lives of people with disabilities include:
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