Accessible cities, Accommodation, Disability, United States
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Airbnb listings aren’t required to comply with the ADA.
Mason Ameri, Rutgers University Newark and Douglas L. Kruse, Rutgers University
“How could you see my listing if you’re blind?”
“I’d have to check with our insurance company to see if we’re covered to host guests with disabilities.”
“Does the dog drive?”
Those are three typical responses we got from Airbnb hosts while posing as guests with disabilities for a study we conducted on the home-sharing service. Some hosts were willing to accommodate us. Some were uneasy. Some were insensitive. We effectively became Airbnb’s secret shopper – even secret to Airbnb – to determine if its credo to “belong anywhere” implied that this service was designed with disability access and civil rights in mind.
Our results revealed that Airbnb’s platform perpetuates the social exclusion of people with disabilities. We don’t believe this is done intentionally, but the unregulated nature of rental listings end up subverting the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which turns 30 in July.
PinPresident George Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
AP Photo/Barry Thumma
What the ADA changed
Before this landmark law, people with disabilities had a very hard time engaging in American life. Structural barriers [...]