ONLINE ACCESSIBILITY AND INFORMATION NEEDS OF DISABLED TOURISTS: A THREE COUNTRY HOTEL SECTOR ANALYSIS

Information is the lifeblood of tourism, influencing individual motivation to travel. Whilst the WWW offers opportunities for information’s ready supply and exchange there are often issues surrounding access to it, most notably, but not exclusively, for disabled users. This is the topic of web content accessibility. This paper assesses the accessibility of Australian, UK and US-based hotel-accommodation websites. Moreover, given the high-involvement nature of the travel decision for disabled travellers, the study also assesses whether the information published meets the needs of the disabled. The study finds low levels of accessibility and little specific information that is likely to meet the needs of some disabled consumers. It concludes that organisations are a long way from meeting competitive, legal and technological imperatives for accessibility