Baltimore, Maryland (June 30, 2021): Airbnb is committed to making travel more inclusive. That’s why we’re excited to announce a new collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind, the largest consumer organization of blind people in the United States, to help improve our services and access for the blind community.

As part of this collaboration, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) will provide guidance and feedback on our products and policies as we work to better meet the needs of people who are blind or who have low vision. Part of this work will include continuing to make sure Hosts welcome guide dogs and other service animals and understand the critical functions they perform for people with disabilities. 

The NFB will also continue to join quarterly Disability Advisory Roundtables convened by Airbnb and hosted by the National Council of Independent Living (NCIL), with a number of national and regional organizations, activists, advocates and leaders in the United States that represent a variety of people with disabilities. The NFB has participated in these roundtables since 2017. We will also work with the NFB to empower the organization’s members to access the financial opportunities of hosting on Airbnb.

“While we’ve made progress in our work to improve the accessibility and usability of Airbnb, there is more work to be done. Guidance from the National Federation of the Blind will be invaluable and by working together, we will strengthen our community.” 
- Janaye Ingram, Airbnb Director of 21st Century Community Initiatives.

“The National Federation of the Blind is delighted to collaborate with Airbnb to help this innovative company make its services and platform more accessible to blind people,” said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. “We believe this collaboration will facilitate better travel and accommodation experiences, as well as economic opportunities, for many blind people in America and beyond. The collaboration also represents the kinds of relationships we seek with businesses of all kinds in order to improve accessibility and opportunity for the blind.”

Insights from experts like the NFB are critically important as we continue working to improve accessibility on our platform and policies. We have taken a number of steps in recent years, including:

• Dedicated teams focused on building more inclusive products
• Conducting research with people with disabilities to help inform product decisions
• Continuing to share and develop educational materials for our Host community about how to host guests with accessibility needs

We are committed to learning and implementing more ways to improve our products and services for people with a variety of disabilities.