Creating and maintaining a hotel website can be very exciting. It’s a major way of getting your hotel out there for travelers to book with you. However, in order to reach out to all travelers, your website should provide accessible tools in order to maximize the usability of your website.

As a whole, your hotel must meet ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance so that all travelers can successfully access your site. The last thing you would want is to receive a lawsuit for your website not complying with today’s standards. Plus, by following ADA guidelines you ensure your hotel website is welcoming and accessible to every potential traveler.

Examples of Accessible Tools

People with disabilities must be able to make reservations for accessible guest rooms during the same hours and in the same ways that other people are able to make reservations such as by telephone, in person, email, via websites, or through third parties (travel agents or online reservations services).¹

Ultimately, your hotel website’s purpose is to attract guests and generate bookings. With that said, having an accessibility tab on each page of your website is key. By doing so, you will amplify your traveler clicks and interaction.

This Travel Media Group client website has an accessibilities tab on the right-hand side of their home page. When clicked, the tab provides people with multiple ways to view the website.

Moreover, your website’s code must be compatible with the standards too. One important step is to make sure your photo code has alt text so the visually impaired can know what photo is present on the page through their screen reader. Also, we recommend you give travelers the capability to identify all of the links on a webpage. This is done by activating the setting that underlines each clickable link on your site. Additionally, your hotel website should provide travelers with a tool to increase and decrease the text on their screen. Below you can find some prime examples of how web-accessibility tools that all hotels should be providing can adapt the look and functionality of your webpage based on travelers’ needs.

Finalizing Website Solutions

Hotels, as places of public accommodation, have long been targets of lawsuits by individuals and public advocacy organizations under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA as it is commonly referred.²

In summary, following these measures are smart steps toward making your hotel’s website welcoming to all. Therefore, we encourage you to learn more about how we can upgrade your Hotel Website.

Sources:
1. Accessible Lodging. (2019, March 06). Retrieved from https://adata.org/factsheet/accessible-lodging
2. Topolski, S. (2018, November 27). Ensuring Hotel Websites Are ADA Compliant – LODGING. Retrieved from https://lodgingmagazine.com/ensuring-hotel-websites-are-ada-compliant/