Guide
A Roadmap for Creating Accessible, Compliant Digital Content
A guide for travel industry professionals to navigate digital accessibility requirements and create accessible, compliant experiences.
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Imagine planning a bucket list trip. Maybe it’s to Asia to see incredible temple ruins, to Europe to take in the stunning architecture, or to a rural island with white sandy beaches that stretch for miles. Wherever it is, you’d likely put a lot of time and effort into planning the perfect trip. Finding an affordable flight, picking the right hotel room, planning the perfect itinerary — a lot of thought would go into making this a truly once-in-a-lifetime trip.
Now, imagine you can’t plan any of these details out thanks to inaccessible technology. You can’t book a flight because there’s no way to select seats. You can’t go to the top tourist attraction because there’s no clear way to get there, or you’re unable to book a hotel room because the website is in a different language with no way to translate it. There’s a high chance you’d abandon going on the trip altogether, right?
As a business in the travel industry, that’s not the experience you want your travelers to have. You’re likely looking for every opportunity to create a more seamless online experience for your customers — especially in your online spaces.
While eye-catching color schemes and stunning visuals do play a role in your users’ overall experience, there’s another element that plays an even bigger role: accessibility.
Removing barriers that prevent individuals with disabilities, from visual and auditory to cognitive and neurological, from accessing places of public accommodation is the primary reason the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was created. Many organizations across industries mistakenly think the ADA only applies to physical spaces; in reality, ADA requirements also extend to digital spaces. This means your digital content must be accessible to individuals with disabilities. Failing to do so could lead to demand letters, lawsuits, or fines and penalties — which can easily surpass six figures.
Being in the travel industry — one of the largest and fastest growing sectors worldwide — it’s crucial to understand how non-compliance with the ADA affects your business and your travelers, especially considering the latest updates to Title II of the ADA.
In this eBook, you’ll learn which ADA requirements you’re legally required to comply with and how doing so benefits your organization and your customers. We’ll also explain accessibility best practices that ensure your users can easily traverse your online offerings and prepare for their next adventure.
“Most booking sites are so challenging for me as a visually impaired person that I talk myself out of going somewhere I really want to go because of the lack of accessibility.”
— Maxwell Ivey | Accessibility Entrepreneur
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A look into the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The original ADA bill was introduced to Congress in 1988. After initial opposition, Congress passed the ADA into law in 1990, ensuring individuals with disabilities had equal access to places of public accommodation. In physical spaces, this resulted in accessibility features like curb cuts, wheelchair ramps, automatic doors, accessible parking, and more. As the world became more digital, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) expanded the act to include online spaces, mandating they be accessible to individuals with disabilities.
What does it mean to be ADA-compliant?
Under Title III of the ADA, any business that serves the public must be accessible to individuals with disabilities — in both physical and online spaces. This includes hotels, airlines, travel agencies, tour operators — essentially the entire travel industry. Failing to comply with the ADA puts your organization at risk for lawsuits, expensive demand letters or settlements, reputational damage, and loss of customer trust.
To be considered ADA-compliant, all your digital content must conform to the accessibility standards outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA. We’ll discuss the exact WCAG standards you need to be ADA-compliant in the next chapter.
Conforming to WCAG ensures that all travelers, including those with disabilities, can book, plan, and experience travel independently. Plus, ADA compliance reduces your legal risk, helping you avoid expensive lawsuits, demand letters, and reputational damage.
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Know before you go: Getting your digital content ‘compliance ready’
The best time to build compliant content is now. Waiting for a demand letter to show up on your desk or bad reviews from your customers to bring your digital content into compliance can result in more time, money, and resources being wasted. Below, we’ve compiled a list of your ‘must-haves’ to meet compliance requirements and minimize your legal risk.
1. Chart the course: Understand accessibility guidelines and best practices
Just as you are well-versed in the top trends happening in the travel industry and what travelers are looking for, your organization must be as well-versed in accessibility guidelines and best practices.
The first step: Breaking down WCAG guidelines.
WCAG includes more than 70 success criterion, each of which has clear guidelines on how to make various digital elements more accessible to individuals with disabilities. Some of these include:
Alt text: Include alt text (also called alternative text) for images so visually impaired users or assistive technology users can understand the content.
Descriptive link text: Ensure links have descriptive text that accurately describes where users can expect to go when the link is clicked. For example, use ‘click here to learn more about WCAG standards’ over ‘click here.’
Captions: Include accurate captions for all video content to accommodate users who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Clear error messages: Provide clear error messages and steps for users to resolve them. Doing so helps those with low vision or cognitive disabilities know what the issue is and how to resolve it.
Keyboard navigation: Ensure your digital content (including interactive elements such as videos) can be navigated to and interacted with keyboard shortcuts and commands only.
Headers: Ensure headers follow a hierarchical order (H1, H2, H3, etc.) and are descriptive. When headers are used logically, it helps users orient themselves on the page, something that’s especially beneficial for those with visual or cognitive disabilities.
Orientation: Devices should be usable in any orientation (portrait or landscape) without obstructing content.
Color contrast: Use sufficient color contrast throughout your web designs. WCAG recommends a color contrast level of 4.5:1 for normal text and 7:1 for larger text.
Resize text: Text should be resized by 200% without loss of content or functionality. This allows users with low vision to increase text as needed.
Consistent navigation: Navigation elements should be consistent across your website and be navigated predictably.
These are just some of the WCAG criteria your travel content needs to be accessible to individuals with disabilities and meet ADA requirements. For a more comprehensive list, check out our WCAG Conformance Checklist.
While it can feel overwhelming to implement all 78 WCAG 2.1 Level AA success criterion into your digital content, accessibility platforms like AudioEye make the process fast, easy, and cost-effective. From AI-based automation to audits from accessibility experts and members of the disability community, AudioEye helps you achieve industry-leading compliance with accessibility standards. Our comprehensive approach streamlines your path to accessibility and saves you up to 90% in costs compared to traditional methods.
Once you have a deeper understanding of WCAG and other accessibility requirements, you’re ready for an accessibility audit.
2. Start your journey: Conduct an accessibility audit
Embarking on an accessibility audit is akin to planning a travel itinerary — it requires thorough preparation and a keen eye for detail.
An accessibility audit starts with an in-depth evaluation of your websites and other digital content to identify where existing accessibility issues lie and create a plan to fix them.
While you can review your digital content yourself, we recommend starting with an automated audit. Automated accessibility tools can (depending on the tool) scan your digital content to assess how compliant your site is with WCAG accessibility standards. It’s important to note that most automated accessibility tools can only find common accessibility issues, such as missing alt text or poor color contrast. More complex issues, like non-descriptive link text or poor keyboard navigation, can only be identified through expert audits.
We recommend taking a hybrid approach to testing — starting with an automated accessibility scan to uncover common accessibility issues and supplementing it with an accessibility audit (either by yourself or a third party) to find and fix more complex issues.
For example, AudioEye’s Web Accessibility Scanner scans your digital content for 32 WCAG success criteria — more than any other tool on the market — and our Automated Accessibility Platform automatically fixes the majority of those issues. We then supplement this testing with Expert Audits performed by accessibility experts and members of the disability community and testing throughout the development process to catch accessibility issues early on. Our three-pronged approach to accessibility enables you to find and fix more accessibility issues, making your travel site accessible and compliant.
Remember: an accessibility audit is not a one-and-done process. Regular audits of your website help you find accessibility issues and fix them before they impact your users and create potential legal trouble.
This step is also critical for setting the stage for effectively fixing accessibility issues and ensuring that all users, regardless of their abilities, can access and enjoy your digital content.
“Digital accessibility enables people with disabilities to do what they probably wouldn’t have been able to do before.”
— Gerard Cohen | Accessibility Engineer, Atlassian
3. Mapping the route: Crafting a plan to fix accessibility issues
An accessibility remediation plan is like planning a detailed travel route for a must-see destination — figuring out exactly how you’re getting there, planning for potential obstacles, and crafting a backup plan in case something goes wrong.
Your plan is similar. It involves creating a clear, actionable path to tackle the accessibility errors revealed during your audit. Think of it like your roadmap: guiding you through the process of fixing issues and addressing potential roadblocks. The destination: A travel site that not only meets ADA compliance standards but also offers an inclusive, seamless experience for all users.
Start by prioritizing smaller issues that can be fixed quickly. For example, adding alt text to images, captions to videos, or adjusting color contrast ratios. As you make these fixes, you can simultaneously create a plan for fixing more complex accessibility issues, like enhancing compatibility with assistive technologies or improving keyboard navigation.
“Own it. Care about it. That’s a big thing — understanding the implications of accessibility and the impact it has on people and care about the impact it has.”
— Jared Smith | Director of WebAIM
To increase the success of fixing accessibility issues, keep the following in mind:
Set clear objectives: Define specific goals for each identified issue, like ensuring all images on your site have alt text or that all forms can be navigated through keyboard commands and shortcuts.
Allocate resources: Determine what resources are needed to resolve accessibility issues, including time, budget, personnel, etc. Involve your web developers, designers, and other content creators; they can help you determine how to address technical or content-related issues.
Develop a timeline: Create a detailed timeline that outlines when each issue will be addressed and resolved and by who. Include deadlines for short-term fixes and longer-term improvements. Be sure to communicate your plan upward as needed.
Document changes: Keep a detailed record of what changes were made during the remediation process. Your documentation should include descriptions of the issues, the solutions implemented, and any relevant testing results. That record not only helps with compliance but also provides a reference for future audits or updates.
Test and validate: Once changes are implemented, conduct thorough testing to ensure your fixes effectively address the issues uncovered during your initial audit. Remember to use both automated and testing with individuals with disabilities to ensure your changes improve accessibility.
Communicate and train: Finally, inform your team about the new updates to your digital content and provide training on new features or best practices as needed.
You wouldn’t go somewhere for the first time without having an in-depth understanding of how to get there. The same goes for accessibility fixes. A well-thought-out plan and thorough preparation help you effectively resolve issues and enhance the accessibility of your travel site.
4. Ongoing exploration: Continuous monitoring and feedback
Just as travelers are always looking for their next adventure, new experiences, or tips on an upcoming trip, your travel organization should continuously monitor and gather feedback on the accessibility of your digital offerings. Doing so ensures your digital platform stays accessible even as you make changes to your content or update your site.
Start by regularly scheduling accessibility audits using automated tools and manual testing to ensure your site complies with current accessibility standards. Consider going beyond basic testing — conduct user tests with individuals with disabilities to get their feedback or insights on how accessible your digital content is.
“It’s all about feedback…if most companies understood that you don’t need to make gigantic changes, accessibility would be in a much better place.”
— Ahmad Abukhdair | Digital Accessibility Advocate
Additionally, stay proactive by reviewing the latest accessibility guidelines or best practices. Remember, what was considered compliant a year ago might not meet today’s requirements, so consider subscribing to accessibility news, joining relevant forums, engaging with users, or getting involved with the disability community to stay on top of new developments or emerging technologies.
Arguably, the most important aspect of continuous monitoring is getting involved with the disability community. Doing so allows you to gather much-needed feedback on the accessibility of your site. Other feedback channels — like feedback forums or support channels — can also allow users to report issues or suggest improvements easily. Not only does this help in quickly addressing problems, but also demonstrates your commitment to inclusivity.
The bottom line: continuously auditing your site and monitoring accessibility laws ensures your site stays welcoming, accessible, and compliant — even as your content changes.
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Why digital accessibility increases visitors numbers
Digital accessibility is more than just a checkpoint for your business — it’s the passport to unlocking new opportunities. Just as a well-planned itinerary opens the door to unforgettable travel experiences, ensuring your digital platforms are accessible ensures you can effectively reach, engage, and convert every traveler.
As the online world becomes the go-to tool for exploring travel options, having an accessible website isn’t just important for complying with the latest accessibility guidelines (e.g., recent guidelines to Title II of the ADA and the upcoming EAA compliance deadline) but for standing out in today’s competitive tourism industry. Here’s how:
Broaden Your Audience
Approximately 1.3 billion people worldwide have a disability. By making your digital platforms more accessible, you open your digital doors to a much larger audience.
Enhance the User Experience
Accessibility features like clearer navigation and readable text benefit all users by enhancing the user experience. And the easier it is to interact with your site, the more likely users are to stay engaged, explore, and follow through with travel plans.
Boost Your SEO Rankings
Many accessibility features like descriptive alt text for images and well-structured headings align with SEO strategies that improve how search engines index and rank your content. Better SEO means higher rankings in search results, leading to more traffic and greater exposure.
Showcase Your Commitment to Compliance
Showing your travel organization's commitment to meeting accessibility requirements puts your brand in a positive light. Plus, more of today’s consumers are supporting brands that show a commitment to social issues, so enhancing your digital content’s accessibility can help you attract and win more customers.
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Ready for departure?
Creating accessible travel content is so much more than a regulatory necessity or a compliance checklist—it’s your ticket to unlocking new opportunities and enhancing your business’ impact. Embracing and prioritizing accessibility not only ensures compliance with legal requirements but also sets your business on the path to a better, more usable online experience and higher user engagement.
Ready to get started on the path to compliance and accessibility? Here’s how AudioEye helps you create a site that doesn’t just meet compliance standards but creates an accessible, usable experience for all users:
Automated accessibility testing with our free Website Accessibility Checker, which tests your digital content for 32 WCAG violations — more than any other tool on the market. These insights give you a great starting point for increasing the accessibility of your site.
Our Automated Accessibility Platform applies automatic fixes for common accessibility issues in real-time, fixing the majority before they impact your users.
Expert testing from accessibility experts and members of the disability community who detect more complex accessibility issues and provide actionable, strategic guidance on how to fix them.
End-to-end legal protection and support from accessibility experts. AudioEye provides the only genuine guarantee in the industry, offering a level of protection that’s up to 400% better than consulting or automation-only approaches. We’ll also provide comprehensive support through compliance lawsuits or demand letters.
With AudioEye’s three-pronged approach to accessibility, you’ll achieve industry-leading compliance with accessibility laws and create a seamless user experience for all.
Get started on the path to accessible, compliant content now
Ready to start your accessibility journey? See how AudioEye helps you get there with confidence.