Study shows hotel Web sites lacking in accessibility

I almost always make a hotel reservation these days via the Web. If there are concerns about an accessibility feature, a follow-up by phone to the actual location to nail down some details may be in order, but that initial reservation is typically done through the Web for me. But a recent study of how the hotel industry treats its online customers shows plenty of room for improvement when it comes to how accessible hotel Web sites are to those with visual disabilities. The Customer Respect Group found: "Careful use of colors was an area of weakness with low contrast colors used at some point for text in 79 percent of the sites. Navigation bars and buttons fared the same with 71 percent of sites using some low-contrast colors (vs. 56 percent for cross-industry averages). Color contrast affects a very large number of site users including color blind, elderly and visually impaired users." Another stat from the study that I would say doesn't work in favor of travelers with disabilities is Customer Respect Group's findings on responsiveness. In its study, 12 percent of emails were ignored. That's bad for travelers with disabilities, because sometimes you need a little more info. and a quick email might be how to try to get it. The highest three rankings for accessibility (which Customer Respect Group calls attitude in their study) are (on a scale from one to 10) Marriott International, 7.5; Global Hyatt, 6.2; and Red Roof Inn, 5.7. (Photo by Alex via morgueFile.com)