Web site accessibility of German and UK tourism information sites

Abstract

Information exchange is important in any transaction but is perhaps particularly important for transactions in the travel and tourism industry where information gratification plays such a crucial role. Internet‐based technologies allow organisations to exchange information with an often geographically dispersed and wider marketplace without a loss of quality. However, merely being online, publishing a Web site is not enough. Organisations need to ensure their Web sites obtain “traffic” or “hits” and, importantly, that the content of their sites is accessible. Accessible Web sites mean access for all, accommodating different user capabilities and needs. This research examines the emerging competitive and legal imperatives to consider the issue of Web content accessibility as well as what makes for an accessible Web site. In spite of the strong competitive and legal imperatives for accessibility, a survey of 100 UK and German‐based travel and tourism Web sites conducted here revealed disappointingly low levels of accessibility. As the Internet and Web come to play a more important part in individual lives, this finding suggests that many organisations need to work harder to ensure that their often considerable investments achieve what they set out to do – communicate effectively with what they hope is a larger marketplace.

Online Services Delivered by NTO Portals

“…More specifically, while the majority of the websites under examination (17) include sufficient information regarding accessibility for travellers with special needs, only 2 of them (the Spanish and the British NTO) declare that their portals are adhering with the legal imperatives for accessibility according to the web content accessibility guidelines (http// w3.org). This is consistent with the findings of Williams et al (2004) who found discouraging low levels of accessibility for tourism related websites in Germany and UK. A further category where the sample portals are performing particularly weakly is service integration, averaging 12 % across the total sample.…”

A Whole-of-Life Approach to Tourism: The Case for Accessible Tourism Experiences

“…• city accessibility pedestrianisation and wayfinding principles create more accessible and environments (Aslaksen et al, 1997;Gleeson, 2001;Goldsmith & PRP Architects, 2000;and Hall & Imrie, 2001;Imrie, 1996;Sawyer & Bright, 2004) • disability studies and the geographies of disability where the role of space and place is interrogated from a disability perspective (Abberley, 1987;Oliver, 1990Oliver, , 1996Chouinard, 1997;Chouinard & Grant, 1995;Cormode, 1997;Crouch, 2000;Golledge, 1996;Hahn, 1986;Imrie, 1996Imrie, , 2000Kitchin, 1998Kitchin, , 2000aWilton, 1999) • historic building accessibility, where dynamic reuse has been championed by architects and planners who regard heritage as an evolving consideration over time ( • information provision and website design, where alternative format provision and W3C international protocols for website accessibility place the responsibility for such provision with organisations (Cameron, Darcy, & Foggin, 2003;Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 2002;Shi, 2006;Williams, 2004).…”

How Can Secure Websites Improve Buying Intention?

“…Given that "security is not free, and in fact, on the web, it is particularly expensive" (p. 99) (Stubblefield, Rubin & Wallach, 2005), other means of reinforcing security perceptions should be activated, for example, building highly usable pages. Benefits of usability are good for everyone (Williams, Rattray & Stork, 2004). So, firms have to communicate effectively with the target audience allowing them access to content.…”