Luxury hotel websites are no different from any other when it comes to the European Union’s (EU) new accessibility rules. Here’s what you need to know now about the EU update and how to turn compliance into a guest-winning advantage.
NB: This is an article from ARO Digital
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The European Accessibility Act (EAA) began to apply on 28 June 2025. From that date, any new, consumer-facing digital service in the EU (including hotel websites and booking engines) must be accessible for people with disabilities. Existing websites and contracts get a transitional period to 28 June 2030, but only for services/products already in use before the 2025 cut-off (and some contracts can run up to five years). After that, everything needs to meet the standard.
Let’s get the legal, technical stuff out of the way: what “standard” are we talking about? In practice, the EU points hotels to EN 301 549: the harmonised ICT accessibility standard, which, for web content, maps to WCAG 2.1 Level AA (with EU-specific extras). WCAG 2.2 is the new best practice bar and is expected to be incorporated in future EN 301 549 updates, so plan for it now to stay ahead.
Does this really apply to luxury hotels? Yes. If you sell rooms or services online to EU consumers, your e-commerce service is in scope. That includes your brand website and/or app, booking engine, payment flows and any pre-arrival forms or PDFs you publish.
The non-negotiables for your website and booking journey
- Structure & navigation: Use semantic HTML, logical headings (H1–H3), visible focus states, and “skip to content” links. All interactive elements must be keyboard operable – no mouse required.
- Visuals & contrast: Meet minimum contrast ratios, avoid text baked into images, and provide descriptive alt text for imagery (especially rooms, amenities, menus, spa). Luxury photography is great; it still needs alt text.
- Forms that convert for everyone: Labels must be programmatic, errors explained in text, and help offered inline. Date pickers, guest selectors, and add-ons need clear ARIA where appropriate and full keyboard support.
- Media & PDFs: Provide captions for video, transcripts for audio, and ensure downloadable menus/brochures are accessible (or publish as HTML). Under EU rules, downloadable docs count.
- Booking engine parity: Many failures hide in third-party widgets – rate calendars, room selectors, upsells, and payments. Bake accessibility requirements into vendor contracts and test with real assistive tech
- CAPTCHAs & authentication: Offer accessible alternatives (e.g., non-visual challenges or device attestation). Don’t lock out guests at sign-in.
- Language & readability: Plain, concise copy helps everyone, including international guests and screen-reader users. Avoid “image-only” menus or spa price lists.
