Expedia Group 2021 Inclusion & Diversity Key Priority - Making Expedia Group More Accessible to Talent Worldwide

Our mission is to remove barriers, so that exceptional people can do their best work.
- ABILITY INCLUSION MOVEMENT IBG MISSION STATEMENT

Expedia Group’s journey to elevate underrepresented voices includes ensuring our employees have an accessible and equitable workplace. Our discovery process began with our SelfID+ voluntary survey, which revealed that approximately 8% of those who responded identified as having a disability, with 55% citing a disability that is a mental disability or not visible. Last year, through our IBG AIM (Ability Inclusion Movement), Expedia Group celebrated many inclusive events, including the global observance of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, to spread awareness of what it takes to live and thrive as someone with a disability. It is important to create the space for conversations on the opportunities, challenges, and barriers that people who live with disabilities face every day

• 8% Identified as having a disability
• 55% Cited having evident and non-evident disabilities.

Disability:IN Disability Equality Index

On Disability:IN’s 2021 Disability Equality Index, Expedia Group surpassed our goal, achieving a score of 90 out of 100 for actions taken such as publishing an Expedia Group-wide commitment to accessibility, policies for requesting employee accommodations, and external best practices for including accessibility in website and application design that includes working to ensure all videos have closed captions. This year, we’re looking to maintain or exceed this score.

Mental Health Ambassadors

Mental Health Ambassadors are employees who have been certified in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). These ambassadors are a friendly and approachable support system for employees struggling with mental health and substance abuse challenges. Using a peer-to-peer approach, Mental Health Ambassadors are available to other employees, providing their time, advice, and guidance to help employees find professional help or use other Expedia Group benefits and other resources.

Inclusive Benefits

Expedia Group offers progressive, inclusive benefits, including support for the LGBTQIA+ community, our employees’ mental wellbeing, and their families.

In 2021, we introduced even more flexibility and resources to reflect the needs of our workforce:

• Mental wellness coverage through a partnership with Talkspace for all employees and their dependents
• Creation of a Wellbeing hub and community that provides support, insights, and trainings for our employees worldwide
• Updated Wellbeing and Travel Reimbursement, giving employees more choice in how to use the funds, and added $400 USD in value, encouraging employees to support their wellbeing needs

“The Return Ticket program is an excellent opportunity to get back to work after having a long break for caregiving! I received all the needed support to ramp myself up for work. Weekly networking sessions by Path Forward and Return Ticket cohort meetings are a great help! Having a talent champion and team navigator to guide you is great! I am very much thankful to Path Forward and Expedia Group for this opportunity.”

- PRAJAKTA PATHAK, SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER

Conducting a Facilities Review

We understand the importance of physical space in creating an inclusive environment. Our global Real Estate & Facilities team is learning best practices on and improving workspaces that work for all.

• 55 Offices reviewed
• 15 Countries
• 90% of global team impacted

In 2021, we reviewed 55 office locations in 15 countries, impacting over 90% of our team. We also issued a Global Real Estate Universal Design survey to our Facilities team to understand the current state of accessibility across our global office portfolio. While we always adhere to the most stringent building codes, using the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design, we strive to do better and look to incorporate Universal Design (UD) principles. The premise of the concept is if the design works well for people with disabilities, it will work well for everyone. Our journey to reimagining our workspaces has only just begun, and we continue to update our global facilities, such as providing lower counters throughout spaces and displaying merchandise and other items vertically so that all items are reachable to all users, among other key areas to ensure our workspaces are truly inclusive.

Digital Accessibility

We realize that accessibility is not just about our physical workspaces. It requires us to think about and prioritize accessibility from an internal tooling and processes perspective, ensuring that our products and solutions do not exclude people, including our travelers, employees, and partners, with various disabilities. As a company, Expedia Group believes it’s important to meet the following digital accessibility goals:

• Every traveler can successfully use any Expedia Group product
• Every Expedia Group employee has equitable access to the tools and accommodations they need to succeed in their job
• Expedia Group partners have access to B2B solutions that meet the needs of all of their employees and customers

In 2021, we saw a 50% year-over-year reduction in average resolution time for block bugs, meaning we were able to solve accessibility issues more quickly. For example, we ensure that images on sites like Expedia.com have correct and meaningful descriptions for screen readers.

Customer Inclusion & Diversity Program

In 2021, following in-depth data analysis, we doubled down on prioritizing initiatives for travelers with accessibility needs, who represent 26% of the U.S. adult population (CDC). They have the desire to travel more, and do travel more than any underrepresented group, yet have the worst experiences doing so. Our customer data shows that their experiences are 2x worse than our overall customer.

Travelers with Accessibility Needs

Our work encompasses accessible travel for travelers using wheelchairs, visually or hearing-impaired travelers, caregivers, and beyond. Our end goal is to create equitable travel experiences for travelers with disabilities and amplify the voice of the Disability community with our peers in the travel industry.

In the past, Expedia Group worked with our air and lodging partners to provide the accessibility information that travelers need to review their flight and hotel options to determine if what’s being offered is suitable for their needs and preferences. We made accessible filter improvements on Expedia.com, expanding filter options to include elevator, service animals’ accommodations, roll-in shower, sign-language staff availability, and more, resulting in an 80% increase in accessible filter engagement.

In response to feedback that showed an increase in travelers being allocated to accessible rooms that they had not requested or needed, we implemented changes on Expedia.com to ensure accessible rooms are presented to travelers accurately and that those who need these accommodations can book accordingly.

We also recently launched new reporting capabilities on Vrbo to empower travelers to report property listings that feature inaccurate, offensive, or fraudulent content. This feature will be available on Expedia.com later this year. Finally, we completed our first generative study to understand travelers’ experiences with accessibility needs and their caregivers across our brands. These insights guide us in taking a truly user-centered approach to evolving the traveler experience.

These new tools and features are an important starting point for our broader Customer I&D journey and will help us better serve travelers with disabilities now and in the future.

SPOTLIGHT : Inclusive Lodging Reviews

On Expedia.com and Vrbo, we presented a question to travelers within the U.S., prompting them to recommend their reviews to specific travelers from a variety of communities, such as travelers with disabilities, solo women travelers, and members of Black, Latinx or Asian communities, so that they can make appropriate lodging selections for their needs. Since the feature was launched in 2021, we have collected over 650,000 reviews and are working on displaying these reviews back to our travelers this year.

View the full Expedia Group 2021 Inclusion & Diversity Report