New report finds top travel websites lack inclusivity for disabled usersĀ 

A report investigating the user experience and accessibility of some of the UKā€™s top travel websites has listed access and usability shortcomings.

Findings from Sigmaā€™s reportĀ revealed some of the shortcomings associated with 10 top travel sites including Skyscanner, AirBnb, LateRooms, Booking.com, LastMinute, OnTheBeach, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Co-operative Travel, and Expedia, particularly when it came to accommodating disabled users.

Usability testing

In independent, heuristic testing, Sigma scored each website overall out of a possible 35 across a variety of categories encompassing overall usability; how easy to use the sites were across different devices; and accessibility for all users, including those with physical, cognitive and visual disabilities. On average, the websites were scored 23.

The report found that many of the websites failed when it came to accessibility and inclusivity for disabled users ā€“ six out of 10 were too cluttered which meant important information could be missed by partially sighted users, while nearly half had inconsistent interfaces, making going through the booking process difficult.

Usability on different platforms and devices

An additional third of the sites blocked the ability to zoom in and out on an iPad; while four out of 10 sites didnā€™t contain alt text on their images, meaning visually impaired users would struggle to know what was contained in the images; and only two were screen reader friendly.

Hilary Stephenson, Managing Director at Sigma, said: ā€œThe findings of our research demonstrate that travel companies are indeed adopting good web usability practices in the main. They also clearly recognise the importance of being easy to use across different devices ā€“ including mobile and tablet PC ā€“ with many having responsive and adaptive websites, and invested in mobile apps.

ā€œHowever, accessibility testing with independent consultant, Molly Watt ā€“ who was born deaf and now has partial sight ā€“ revealed a number of potentially concerning findings when it comes to how accommodating the sites were for disabled users. While six out of 10 of the sites had good colour contrast, scores against the remaining accessibility factors were low. The fact that many of the sites didnā€™t contain alt text, and most of them werenā€™t screen reader friendly means that partially sighted people would really struggle to use some of them. Thatā€™s not to say all the sites hadnā€™t considered accessibility though ā€“ Expedia and LateRooms scored particularly well in this section.

10 million disabled users in the UK

With over 10 million people in the UK living with a disability, the growing importance of being accessible and inclusive to all users absolutely cannot be ignored.

ā€œTotal digital inclusion must now be a priority to these businesses, so everyone is able to access the same services online, regardless of whether they have a disability or not,ā€ Stephenson said.

 

Edited from press release by Cecilia Rehn.

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