Accommodation Accessibility Criteria: Towards Improving Accessible Accommodation Information Formats

Studies have identified a series of significant problems with the way that accessible accommodation information is documented and marketed to people with disabilities. While research on seniors and accommodation has been well-established (e.g. Ruys & Wei 1998) no research has investigated the criteria that people with disabilities determine as ‘important’ to selecting accommodation and their preference for presenting this information. This paper presents the results of a survey to determine the relative importance of room selection criteria. Once the criteria were established, four common information formats used in the Australian context were presented to ascertain the preferences of the respondents. The results strongly found that the preferred format of accessible accommodation information provision was based on a combination of textual, floor plan and digital images. The major variables affecting room selection criteria and the preferred format are the dimensions of disability and level of support needs. An accessible accommodation assessment template was then developed from the results and the paper concludes by presenting an example of the information provision suggested by the accessible accommodation assessment template. The management implications suggest accommodation businesses adopting this format are discussed