In August 2023, my husband and I departed on our honeymoon to Mauritius - a small island the size of Rhode Island located in the Indian Ocean, 700 miles off the coast of Madagascar. For the first leg of our flight we departed from Newark Liberty International Airport to travel to Dubai International Airport via United Airlines for a 13.5 hour flight.
As it was our honeymoon, we upgraded our seats to business class. With a business class seat you have access to the United Polaris Business Lounge. I couldn’t help but notice different features that made the environment accessible for a variety of individuals and abilities.
United Polaris business lounge
- Allergens were listed on all prepared food accessible to guests
- Single level, wide doorways and walkways
- All gender bathrooms
After enjoying the lounge, we took our seats for the first leg of our trip. Each passenger had access to their own television monitor. Under “settings,” accessibility came up as an option for both visual and auditory features on the individual screen display for each seat.
United Business Class Personal Television Features
Auditory/hearing features
- closed captions/subtitles
- voice output features including volume, speed and pitch
- text to speech
Visual Features
- explore by touch
- audio descriptions
- screen features including brightness and text size
- magnification
- high contrast text
- color correction (for color blindness)
- color inversion
Another positive feature to comment on regarding this flight was that prior to takeoff, the crew delayed departure for individuals coming from a connecting flight, which I can imagine gave those passengers a piece of mind as they made their way to the second leg of their flights home.
Overall, the experience on a United Airlines Business Class Flight not only met but exceeded our expectations. And it was great to see all of the visual/auditory accommodations available for the personal televisions located in each seat.
By: Sara Ridgway