How to use the online ticket purchase system of MÁV-group with a screen reader

Contents

Introduction
Recommended software
Site layout
Detailed description of the main parts
Header
Navigation bar
Main region
Ticket purchase
Simple search
Passenger data
Setting discounts

Entering vouchers for a selected passenger

Detailed search
Results page a.k.a. ‘The palette’

Login, registration 
Completing passenger(s)’ data 
Seat reservation
Automatic seat reservation
Seating position request
Next to previously bought ticket
Graphic seat plan
Payment
Profile page
Refund
Hungary Pass, County Pass purchase

Submitting a delay compensation claim

Schedules
Journey schedules (From-to-where timetable)
Service schedules (Timetable by number of service)
Station schedules (Timetable by station)
Further assistance

Introduction

Welcome to the new Elvira internet ticketing client of MÁV-group. The service has been designed in such a way that it can also be used smoothly with a screen reader. The service has been designed with several orientation points for screen readers, such as headings, regions and grouped items. For our visually impaired passengers, alternative texts have been provided in all places where the icons do not have visible captions. These can be displayed by pointing to the icon or, if using a touch screen, by long pressing on the icon.

Recommended software

We recommend the Chrome browser for the smooth operation of the site on all platforms. On Windows we recommend Jaws or NVDA screen reader, while on Apple the Voiceover shall be used.

Site layout

The user interface of the new Elvira can be divided into four main parts:

 

In the header – among others – there is a button opening the list of the novelties and a jump link navigating to the actual page content. The search engine used for purchasing tickets and timetables is located in the content part, and here you can also register and log in to the site with your user account. The page was designed in such a way that the above-mentioned main parts are placed in so-called regions. Regions carry information for screen readers and mark boundaries of certain areas of the page. You can move between them with a command key depending on the screen reader you are using. If you navigate to the top of the page and then use the jump to next region command, you will hear the following region names:

 

Detailed description of the main parts

 

Header

The list of the novelties can be found among others in the header. By pressing the ‘New features’ button, a so -called modal dialog box opens, which contains information about the new Elvira's features. A modal dialog box is a pop-up component that opens on the page, which works similarly to standard dialog boxes in Windows, i.e. the focus of the screen reader does not go to the window behind it while the panel is present.

 

Navigation bar

In this area, you can access other (external) pages of the MÁV-group, as well as the home page, using links and here you can access the language selector and the phone number of Mávdirekt as well.

 

Main region

The role of the main region is to present the actual content. In this area you will first find the various controls of the search engine. It starts with three tabs: ‘Ticket purchase’, ‘Hungary Pass’ and ‘Schedules’. By default, the ticket purchase tab is active, of which screen readers also notify the user, when the focus is on the tabs area.

 

Ticket purchase

As soon as you have activated the ‘Ticket purchase’ tab, please fill in the ‘From?’ field, where the departure city/station name must be entered (e.g.: Budapest-Déli). After that, please choose between simple (default) and advanced search methods.

 

 

By activating the ticket purchase’ tab, the following fields become visible in the main region:

 

The ‘Means of transport’ button takes you to a modal dialog where you can disable or enable vehicles in the search. If, for example, you would like to exclude the bus or train from the results and possible transfers, use the appropriate check box on the mentioned panel, then press the ‘Accept’ button. Notice: In order to see the enabled means of transport options, it is enough to focus on the mentioned button as it contains this information for screen readers as well.

The ‘From?’, ’To?’, and time fields have an auto-complete function. If you start typing e.g. ‘Bu’, a pop-up list will show all the stations that start with these letters.

Some settlements have alternative or abbreviated names. For example, using the search term ‘’Bp’ will result ‘Budapest*’ in the list. It is important that a station or settlement can only be selected from the pop-up list, otherwise the entered characters will be deleted by the system. When you select an item, confirm it on pc with the enter button, on mobile with tapping the item to be selected.

Attention! If you enter a settlement name in the ‘From?’ field, the search controls will be expanded both when purchasing a ticket and when activating the schedule tab: it will be possible to enter the departure/arrival date and time, as well as to set passenger data and discounts. You can enter the latter two in the next step of the purchase process; the detailed description is in the following point. Once you have set the departure town and/or station, proceed in the same way in the ‘To?’ field with your destination. After that, you can use a check box to specify if you would also like to buy a ticket for a return-trip. Attention! If you check the ‘Also for return journey’ check box, the date and time of the return trip must also be entered. We will explain how to do this later. After the mentioned checkbox, you will find a group of radio buttons where you can decide if the time specified in the ‘Time?’ field applies to arrival or departure time.

 

Navigating further after the radio button group, you will find a button to enter the date of the trip, which is indicated by the ‘Date?’ label. Activating the mentioned button opens an accessible calendar grid where you can select the day and month. Once you have selected the appropriate date, close the calendar with the ‘Accept’ button.

 

If the date is not changed, the system applies the current date. If you would not like to use the calendar picker, there are 2 buttons around the aforementioned ‘Date?’ field: ‘Previous day’ and ‘Next day’, which you can use to move more comfortably between days. After entering the date, enter the time of the search in the ‘Time?’ field, which is a so-called combined input field: i.e. you can enter the time not only by typing, but also by selecting a time in increments of 30 minutes. This field works similarly to the autocomplete edit fields mentioned above. If you do not make changes here either, the system applies the current time.

Notice: If you change the date of travel by the mentioned buttons, 0:00 will be used as time for searching.

If you have previously activated the ‘Also for return journey’ check box, please set the date and time of the return trip as the next step as described before. The controls for this are located directly after the fields related to the outbound journey. When you activate the ‘Also for return journey’ switch, the page is expanded with two new fields, which are the same as the controls for entering the date and time used for the outbound journey.

 

Finally, you will find a checkbox named “I only need seat reservation and a referring help button for this feature. Select this option if you already have a ticket, a Hungary pass or other travel entitlement and only need a seat reservation for a train. When searching, set the type of surcharge in the filter criteria. If you would like to travel with an InterCity train, select the 'With seat reservation' option. You can also book your 1+ Premium seat here. If you have a County Pass or a County24 daily ticket, please do not select this option, because it is not valid for trains with obligatory surcharge, therefore you have to purchase not just the seat reservation but also a ticket.

 

In the next step we will provide information on passenger data as described in the following point.

 

Passenger data

Navigate to the ‘Passengers and discounts’ button and activate it. In the modal dialog box that appears, set the number of passengers you would like to buy tickets for, together with the discounts the passenger is eligible for. The system uses the ‘Adult (26-65 years)’ passenger without any discount as default passenger. If you have previously recorded passenger data, you will find them under the heading ’Passengers’ at the top of the panel.  You can add additional passengers with the ‘+Passenger’ button at the bottom of the panel, when necessary. After activating the button, you can select the appropriate type of passenger in a modal dialog box, which you can confirm with enter. After approval, the added passenger will appear in the list of saved passengers. Please note that the newly added passenger is always at the top of the list, so ‘1st Passenger’ will mean the most recently added passenger.

As the next step, search for the appropriate passenger in the list, then enter their date of birth using the ‘Birthday of’ – n-th passenger button, where ‘n’ is the serial number of the passenger in the list. E.g. if you have added two passengers, the text of the buttons will be ‘Birthday of 1st passenger’ and ‘Birthday of 2nd passenger’ respectively. After pressing the aforementioned button, a modal dialog will appear again where you can enter your date of birth in an input field in the format indicated there.

Note: this input field automatically separates the inputted data with a ‘/’ character so you don’t need to type it when entering a date inside.

If you do not wish to enter the date manually, a calendar described in the previous point is also available. The button for opening the calendar is located after the date of birth input field.

Please note that it is not possible to set a discount without entering the date of birth, as many of our discounts are age-related.

 

Setting discounts

If you would like to purchase a discounted ticket, find the passenger in the mentioned list, for whom you would like to apply the discount, then activate the relevant ‘Discount settings for n-th passenger’ button, after which a modal dialog box will appear again, which is introduced by a heading. The heading text is according to the set trip: ‘Discounts for domestic travels’ is active for domestic travel and ‘Discounts for international travels’ is active for international travel.

 

If you have a membership card issued by the Hungarian National Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired (MVGYOSZ), you and one accompanying passenger are entitled to travel at free of charge on services where seat reservation is not required. To apply this discount, you must choose the item named “Persons with disabilities (free of charge).” To do this, first type the word ‘disabi’ in the search field of the panel, and then, depending on the screen reader, exit the forms mode with the appropriate command.

This search field gives results during typing, so no further action is required. When you have finished typing the correct term, the page will inform you of how many results have been found for your search. These results are displayed after the mentioned search field. Navigating between them, you will first find a text, then two buttons. With one button you can save the discount to your favourites, while with the second you can select it.

So based on the above mentioned instructions, activate the ‘Add’ button referring to “Persons with disabilities (free of charge) discount.

If you wish to select more eligibilities, proceed as described above.

 

To activate the added eligibilities, press ‘OK’ at the bottom of the window.

After pressing the ‘OK’ button, you will return to the passenger panel. At the bottom of this, you have the option of adding more passengers, and also bicycles or dogs. Passengers added here will be added to the already described list.

Please note that for certain age groups (e.g. ‘0-3 years’ or ‘Above 65 years’) the system automatically offers a selectable discount. E.g. if you select ‘0-3 years’ age group, the system will automatically offer the ‘Toddler - traveling on lap’ discount, which will be automatically set after checking the checkbox under the passenger. For easier selection later, you can name the set passengers (e.g.: ‘myself’, ‘my companion’, ‘child’, etc.) and save them as a logged-in user. When you have entered all passenger data, click the ‘Accept’ button to close the passenger panel and return to the main page.

Navigating further here, you will find the ‘Seat reservation only’ checkbox.Choose this option if you already have a ticket, pass or other travel rights and only need a seat reservation. If you want to travel on 1st class, but you already have a ticket for 2nd class, you can also get the ticket for the difference in carriage class here. Then, by pressing the ‘Search’ button, you will get to the list of offers.

 

Entering voucher for a selected passenger

If you have a coupon code for your trip, find the passenger for which you want to validate the voucher in the passenger list mentioned above and activate the "Enter voucher" button for them. After pressing the button, the focus is placed in the input field for entering the outbound voucher for that passenger. Enter the code here. Note: This field automatically splits the inputted data into multiple parts so you don’t need to use spaces during typing.


After pressing the ‘OK’ button, you will return to the passenger panel.

 

 If you would like to enter additional conditions for the search, activate the ‘Detailed search’ view link after activating the ‘Ticket purchase’ tab. You can find the available filter options under the heading ‘Filters’. Here you have the option, for example, to filter for train(s) on which bicycles can be transported, or on which first-class carriage is available. If you would like to travel on first class, please check the ‘First class’ option.

 

The passenger data that can be entered is also expanded on this page, for example, it is possible to enter a full name and a voucher. The interface for this is similar to the ‘Passenger data’ subpage described earlier.

If you find the entered data all right, press the ‘Search’ button.

 

Results page a.k.a. ‘The palette’

 

The results of your search will appear on the results page a.k.a. the palette. Here, a heading introduces the list of offers received based on the specified search conditions and filters. After that, you can review each offer package in a definition list, then select one with the appropriate button or view its details. Some offer packages have several options to choose from. To view the offers you can choose from, first open the details of the given offer by the button ‘Details of the n-th option’, where ‘n’ is the serial number of the offer package in the list. Then activate the ‘Offers referring to the n-th option’ button. You can then select the appropriate offer.

You can also filter the results on the palette. To do this, activate the ‘Refine’ button, then choose from the options that appear. For example, you have the option to filter for a train with a first-class carriage, or only for a train that can transport bicycles.

 

The results page is supplemented with an additional list called ‘Ticket purchase progress’. Here you can track where you are in the ticket purchase process and what is still left to successfully purchase a ticket.

 

If you have entered all the data for your trip (departure and destination, passenger details, travel date), the services and offers will appear on the search results page. If there are several offers available for the service you prefer, and the first option is more favourable for you, select it by activating the ‘n-th offer, having x. class and price y’ button, where x denotes the carriage class and y is for the relevant price.

 

Login, registration

After selecting the appropriate offer, you will be taken to the "Login" page. Log in with your user account here, if you do not have one yet,.here you have the option to register your own account by using your e-mail address, but you can also use one of your social accounts, which can be Google, Facebook or Apple.

If you want to log in with a social account, please select either the "Continue with Google account", the "Continue with Facebook account" or the "Continue with Apple account" button and follow the on-screen instructions.

If you later decide to unlink a social account, you can do so by selecting "Profile" in the "My profile" menu at the "Social accounts" section.

Tip: It's worth logging in before search so that your previously saved passenger information is loaded.


If you do not want to create an account, you can also make purchases as a guest, but your e-mail address will still be required. To purchase as a guest, navigate to the "
You may continue without signing in." heading, then fill in the appropriate fields and press the "Continue as a guest" button.

 

If you want to register an account with an email address, please select the "Register" link and follow the instructions to create your account

We recommend that you either use one of your social accounts or sign up with your e-mail address because registration has many advantages over guest shopping.

 

Completing passenger(s)’ data 

In the next step, you will come across a passenger panel similar to the one mentioned earlier. Here, if you have not done so before, you have the option to name the selected passengers (e.g. ‘myself, ‘my companion’, ‘child’, etc.) and to enter any missing age information for easier selection later. You can also use a name or a nickname for naming the passenger type. This is where the tickets must be personalised, i.e. the exact and full name and date of birth (as appearing in the identity document) of the person traveling with the ticket must be entered to the appropriate fields. If you have entered the names of individual passengers, you can make your later purchases easier by checking the ‘Save passenger and discounts to profile’ checkbox at the bottom of the window.

Note: you can also enter vouchers for passengers by pressing the referring ‘Enter voucher’ buttons both for outbound and inbound journey.

When you have finished entering the passengers’ data, activate the ‘Next’ button. If a seat reservation is not required for the selected train, you will be taken to the ‘Cart’ page.

 

Seat reservation

If you have selected a train that requires a seat reservation, you will be taken to the seat reservation method selection screen on the next page.

Automatic seat reservation

Best available seat will be reserved automatically. This option is active by default.

Seating position request

With this option, you can determine the location and other properties of the seat (e.g.: compartment, next to the window, etc.).

Next to a previously bought ticket

Here you have the opportunity to reserve a seat next to your family member or friend who has already purchased their ticket.

Graphic seat plan

In the case of graphic seat reservation, you can select your seat on the layout of the selected carriage. Attention! Please note, that this option cannot be used with a screen reader and only partially with a keyboard. If you use such software or can only navigate with keyboard, please choose another reservation method from those described above.

If for some reason you still have selected the ‘Graphic seat plan’ option and then pressed the ‘Next’ button, you will be able to choose another reservation option on the next screen.

After successful reservation, press the ‘Next’ button to go to the ‘Payment’ page.

Payment

On this page, before paying, you can once again review the tickets to be purchased, in a list similar to the previous ones. If necessary, you can change the contents of the shopping cart at this point.


Enter your billing information under the cart summary. If you already have previously saved invoicing data, you can select one with the selection buttons.

After that, similarly to your saved invoicing data, choose a saved credit card or enter a new one by pressing the “pay by another credit card” button.

When you choose to use another card, a modal dialog gives you the option to specify whether you would like to save its data for future use. After that, please accept the general and special terms and conditions by ticking the box at the bottom of the page.

Press the “Pay” button which leads you to the site of the Simple Pay system where you can complete your purchase. 

After successful payment, you will be returned to our page, where you can download both the electronic ticket and invoice in PDF format. The purchased ticket is also sent by e-mail, and you can also view and use it in the MÁV application, which is available for Android, iOS and Huawei systems.

Note: If you use Adobe Reader to view PDF files along with Jaws, you will need to change a setting inside Adobe Reader in order to access the contents of the purchased tickets and invoice. Without it, Jaws cannot read these documents due to the presence of digital signature.

To make the change, open the invoice or ticket you want to view in Adobe Reader and choose „Preferences” from the File menu. Here, in the category list, select "security enhanced", and then navigate to the "turn on protected mode at startup" checkbox. Turn off this option. After deactivating the checkbox, you will see a warning saying that if you turn off protected mode, both protected view and "AppContainer" will be turned off. You will need to restart the program in order to make changes. Confirm the question by pressing the "yes" button, then close the preferences panel with the "Ok" button, and finally restart Adobe Reader.

 

Profile page

As with other portals, you can manage your user account on the so-called profile page. To do this, log in and select the ‘Profile’ button. In the panel that opens, you can choose from the options ‘Profile’, ‘Previous purchases’ and ‘Log out’.

 Refund

 

To initiate a refund, activate the ‘My profile’ button after logging in. After that, select ‘Previous purchases. On the page that appears, navigate to the ‘Previous purchases’ heading, then find the item you would like to refund. To refund a ticket, click the ‘Details’ button for the appropriate item, then select the "Refund" button, and follow the on-screen instructions.

 

 Hungary Pass, County Pass purchase

In order to purchase a Hungary pass or County pass, select the "Hungary Pass" tab on the main page and then select the appropriate type of pass in the "Region" field. This field is similar to the auto-complete input fields already described in the ticket purchase search but has the opportunity to choose an option without typing into it.

Once you have selected the right pass type for you, pressing the "Next" button will take you to the pass offers screen. This screen is similar to the ticket offers screen, but only one passenger's details can be shown here, as the pass can only be linked to one passenger. On this screen you can add or change your passenger details if necessary.

 

When you have finished adding or modifying passenger details, please select a pass offer that suits you.

Once you have selected a pass offer, the system will suggest that you log in with your account, the same way as when you purchase a ticket.

 

Next, please select an electronic passholder. If you do not already have a saved electronic passholder, you can add one by clicking on the "Plus electronic Passholder" button.

To add a new electronic passholder, follow the instructions on the form that appears, then click on the "Save" button to approve the new electronic passholder.

 

Next, select the saved electronic passholder and activate the "Next" button again. After pressing the button, you will be taken to the cart page where you can complete your purchase the usual way.

 

Submitting a delay compensation claim

To submit a delay compensation claim, please first click on the “Delay compensation” link in the navigation bar. On the page that appears after the login page, enter the details of the paper tickets affected by the delay: select the company issuing the ticket from the ticket issuer drop-down list, enter the ticket number, the price on the ticket, the date and time of issue of the ticket. Note: To help you find these details on the ticket, there is also a pictorial illustration on the page.

If you are unable to read the aforementioned data from the paper tickets due to lack of vision, you can alternatively scan the barcodes of the tickets into the “MÁV+” application, after which you can submit a delay compensation claim from the application.

 If you want to claim for more than one ticket, you can add new items to the list by clicking on the “+ ticket” button on the page.

After entering the required data, you can click on the Next button to go to the next screen where you will find your personal details - as a logged in user. Here you will need to enter your name, account number and address. And as a guest customer, you will also need to enter your billing name in addition to the above details. At the bottom of the page, you can review the details of the tickets you have entered in the previous step before submitting the completed form to us. If you find everything in order, you can submit your request by clicking on the “Claim delay compensation” button.

 

 

 

Schedules

If you just would like to inform about certain services or schedules (e.g. when a train goes from Budapest to Vienna), use the ‘Schedule’ tab on the main page. To do this, navigate to the main region, then use the ‘next tab’ command (depending on your screen reader) to jump to the ‘Search interface tabs’ group. Activate the ‘Timetable’ tab here. After that, you will find fields similar to the journey search, but the list will be expanded with a ‘Service’ and an auto-complete ‘Station’ field.

If you are searching for a service or station, the ‘From?’ and ‘To?’ fields are not relevant and cannot be filled out. Only one type of schedule search can be used at a time. To search again, delete all the entered data so that all the fields that became unavailable during the previous search will be active again.

 

Journey schedules (From-to-where timetable)

If you would like to get information on a service traveling from one station to another, enter the departure and destination stations, as well as the date and time, just like when buying a ticket. After that, activate the ‘Search’ button. The result page that appears is a palette similar to the one appearing during ticket purchase, which can be viewed in a list. On the page that appears, you can even start a ticket purchase for the selected service(s).

 

Service schedules (Timetable by number of service)

If you look for information about a specific train (or even bus), type the train number (or bus number) you are looking for in the ‘Service’ field. After that, set the date and time and then activate the ‘Search’ button. The service schedule data is displayed in a clear table.

 

Station schedules (Timetable by station)

If you would like to get information about the departing and arriving services of a specific station, start typing the name of the desired station in the ‘Station’ input field, choose it from the appearing suggestions list, then activate the ‘Search’ button. The result is displayed in a clear table.

 

 

 

Further assistance

If you encounter difficulties or get stuck at any point, there are help buttons in all areas of the page to help you find your way around. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the MÁV-group Customer Service at the contact details provided on the ticket purchase page at https://jegy.mav.hu, opens in new tab.

We wish you a pleasant journey.