Top Accessibility Considerations for Hospitality Websites

Published November 30, 2020

Why accessible hospitality websites are important

It’s always exciting to plan for a nice meal out or a vacation to somewhere new. As the country tries to emerge from the limited leisure and travel this year, more people are using the internet to plan their next trip or find a new restaurant to try, even if they're planning ahead — but not all hospitality websites are accessible, which means it's difficult for some of the 61 million Americans with disabilities to use these websites.

Accessible hospitality websites allow customers to find the information they’re looking for while making it possible for companies to communicate what they offer. It can be frustrating for users and for businesses when websites aren’t built with everyone in mind. Websites should be designed in a way that suits all users’ needs, being inclusive of customers who:

  • Are blind or have low vision
  • Are deaf of have hearing disabilities
  • Have color blindness or other differences in color perception
  • Have cognitive or intellectual disabilities
  • Have physical disabilities that impact mobility

If you design a website without access needs in mind, putting the accessibility lawsuit risks aside, potential guests will likely opt out of staying at your hotel or eating at your restaurant and choose another option that provides information in accessible ways. Everyone loses out when websites aren’t accessible.

Some common hospitality website accessibility features

If you navigate the world without thinking about accessibility, you might not notice when something isn’t accessible. Some commonly overlooked accessibility features include the use of:

  • Properly-contrasting color palettes: Using the right color combinations along with high contrast makes it possible for people with color blindness to use a website.
  • Clear and easy-to-read fonts: Clear fonts make it easier for people with dyslexia or visual impairment to read website content.
  • Large fonts: It’s important to make your font large enough that most people can easily read it.
  • Use of plain language: Plain language is helpful for everyone. Using unnecessarily complicated language and jargon creates more barriers.
  • Use of alt text to describe images and buttons: Screen readers rely on text descriptions of images and buttons for users to navigate a website.
  • Including captions on all videos: Many websites include videos, like virtual tours or promotional videos. It’s important to remember to caption all videos.
  • Use of headings and proper structure makes content easier to understand when using a screen reader: Organized and structured content is more accessible to everyone.
  • Making sure a website can be navigated by using just the keyboard: Some people navigate websites with just their keyboard, so it’s important to consider how to make this possible in website design.

Although these are very common aspects of web accessibility, many hotel, restaurant, and other hospitality websites lack these very useful features. If you aren’t including these features yet, it’s often easy to start implementing them.

What can you do if your hospitality website isn’t accessible?

It might feel overwhelming to consider overhauling an entire website to make it user-friendly for all people, but you can tackle it one step at a time — start somewhere. The Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the most popular website accessibility standards, providing a blueprint for digital inclusion.

A lot of website accessibility features can be included without any help. You can make a lot of changes on your own, but there are also web designers, developers, and full website accessibility companies that can help companies to make their websites more accessible. Check out Eight Questions to Ask a Digital Accessibility Vendor.

When you make your website more accessible, you’ll be able to attract new customers and know that you’ve created a website that can be enjoyed by everyone.

 

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