In luxury hospitality, every guest interaction matters from check-in to checkout, and increasingly, from the moment a traveller lands on your website. With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) now in effect, accessibility is no longer just good practice, it’s the law. But beyond compliance, an inclusive digital experience can become a genuine business advantage.

What the EU Accessibility Act Means for Hotels

As of 28 June 2025, all new consumer-facing digital services in the EU - including hotel websites, booking engines and mobile apps - must be accessible for people with disabilities. Existing websites and digital contracts have until 28 June 2030 to comply, but any redesign or new launch must already meet the standard.

In short, if you sell rooms or services online to EU consumers, your digital platforms are in scope so it’s best to start aligning now.

What Digital Accessibility Really Means

Accessibility ensures your website works for everyone, regardless of age, ability, or device. This includes:

• Text that screen readers can interpret clearly
• Strong colour contrast and legible typography
• Captions on videos and descriptive alt text on imagery
• Booking flows that can be completed with a keyboard or assistive technology
• Simple, consistent navigation and responsive design on all devices

Why It Matters Beyond Compliance

A Bigger Audience: One in five people lives with a disability. Removing barriers opens your hotel to thousands of potential guests.

Stronger Brand Trust: Accessible design demonstrates genuine hospitality, welcoming all travellers, not just some.

Better User Experience for Everyone: Clean navigation, faster load times and intuitive forms benefit every visitor.

SEO Gains: Search engines reward sites with structured, readable code and descriptive metadata.

Reduced Legal Risk: Meeting the EAA’s standards avoids costly remediation or reputation issues later.

Accessibility, at its heart, is about inclusion, and inclusion drives engagement, trust, and conversions.

The Practical Roadmap

Month 1: Audit your site and booking engine against EN 301 549/WCAG 2.1 AA. Identify barriers like poor contrast, unlabelled inputs, or inaccessible date pickers, and publish an accessibility statement.

Months 2–3: Remediate navigation, forms, and media. Replace inaccessible third-party widgets and add accessibility clauses to vendor contracts.

Months 4–6: Upgrade to WCAG 2.2 standards improving focus visibility, target size, and motion alternatives to future-proof compliance.

Ongoing: Build accessibility checks into every update, train your team, and schedule quarterly reviews. Accessibility isn’t a one-off project; it’s continuous quality assurance.

Turning Compliance to Competitive Advantage

Accessible journeys convert better. Guests complete bookings more easily, search visibility improves, and your hotel reaches a wider audience, from ageing travellers to mobile users in bright conditions.

Luxury is detail, and accessibility is detail at scale. It’s how technology reflects your commitment to every guest.

If your website launched or was redesigned after June 2025, it should already comply. For older sites, the 2030 transition offers time however early action will pay dividends in visibility, guest satisfaction, and conversion performance.

At Aró Digital Strategy, we partner with hotels to build elegant, high-performing, and fully inclusive websites that meet EU standards and elevate the guest experience.

Get in touch to start your accessibility journey and turn compliance into a competitive edge.

Contact details

Alan Rowe
Managing Director

 086 803 2173 / 091 597 200
 alan.rowe@aro.ie
Web www.arodigitalstrategy.com