China Southern Airlines launches website for visually impaired

GUANGZHOU — China Southern Airlines launched a website for visually impaired users Tuesday.

Users who intend to buy air tickets online can visit iaw.csair.com and click on a bar at the top to open the function, said Li Chunhong, a manager for the airline's e-commerce unit. The site's colors can be simplified, text can be enlarged and the mouse cursor can be modified. One function also enables the text to be read aloud.

People with vision problems and reading disorders can all benefit, Li said.

China has approximately 13 million people living with impaired vision. About two thirds say online information is very valuable to them, according to a report by China's Information Accessibility Research Association.

Most websites in China are unfriendly for the visually impaired.