Title: Website accessibility in the hospitality industry: a study in the central region of Portugal

Authors: Pedro Teixeira; Celeste Eusébio; Leonor Teixeira

Addresses: Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal ' Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro, Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies (GOVCOPP) Research Unit, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal ' Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro, Institute of Electronics and Informatics Engineering of Aveiro (IEETA) Research Unit, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

Abstract: This study aims to understand the impact of web accessibility guidelines (WCAG 2.0) on accessible tourism market, by examining the level of website accessibility of hotels located in the central region of Portugal. First, a framework, named WCAG@AcceTourMark was developed, to identify the importance of the WCAG for the various segments of the accessible tourism market. Further, the level of web accessibility of a sample of Portuguese tourism accommodation units is examined, based on WCAG 2.0, using two automatic evaluation tools: AccessMonitor and "Test de Accesibilidad Web". Finally, the WCAG@AcceTourMark developed is used to identify the segments of accessible tourism with greater difficulty in accessing the information disseminated by the tourism accommodation units examined in this study. Results reveal that people with disabilities face several constraints when accessing website information, as the low level of web accessibility constitutes a strong barrier to the development of accessible tourism.

Keywords: accessible tourism; hospitality industry; hotels; websites; web accessibility; people with disabilities; WCAG; web content accessibility guidelines; automatic assessment online tools; AccessMonitor; TAW; Test de Accesibilidad Web.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTP.2021.118666

International Journal of Tourism Policy, 2021 Vol.11 No.3, pp.222 - 246

Received: 28 Jan 2021
Accepted: 27 Apr 2021
Published online: 30 Oct 2021 *

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