Travel Websites Fail On Accessibility
StumbleUponUK travel websites are falling short of their online business potential and failing to reach a wider audience by not recognising the needs of all users, a new report reveals...
UK travel websites are falling short of their online business
potential and failing to reach a wider audience by not
recognising the needs of all users, a new report
reveals...
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According to recent research published published 21 October 2005 by internet research and design consultancy Nomensa (www.nomensa.com), the UKs travel agency websites dont meet even the most basic web accessibility guidelines.
Nomensa profiled 10 of the UKs top online travel websites and measured them against a series of manual and automated testing criteria focusing on web accessibility. Issues such as scalable layout, accessible site structure and compatibility with assistive technologies were measured to determine how the sites are performing.
Failings across the board
Accessible web content is essentially good business practice. With results showing 50% of travel sites fail the most basic accessibility standards (the WCAG 1.0 Single A accessibility standards), an untapped commercial opportunity clearly exists. The research also shows 90% of sites are likely to display inconsistently on portable devices such as PDAs, mobile phones and internet-ready televisions.
The report also reveals that 100% of the sites fail to produce valid, accessible HTML code, while 90% of the sites have poor document structure, which prevents users from fully understanding the relative importance of information and how its structured. One positive finding was that 70% of sites carry alternative text descriptions for the majority of graphical content.
Travel sites failing on basic routes to sales
The UK travel industry has seen significant growth in recent years. In parallel, the internet has shown dramatic growth as a means of booking travel and, in the first quarter of 2005, 58% of UK adults had bought goods, tickets or services online.
Taking into account the competitive nature of the UK travel industry, with many online companies undercutting large high street brands, these well-known businesses could gain market share simply by making sure their websites are accessible. Over nine million potential customers (the registered disabled alone) are subject to a poor user experience that may even exclude them from booking online travel.
Travel sites - lessons to learn
Lonie Watson, Head of Accessibility at Nomensa commented: With so many people using the internet for purchases, banking and leisure activities, were surprised to see the travel industry hasnt kept up to speed with engaging online shoppers. Good web accessibility practise isnt exclusively for the disabled: it caters for anyone using the web. If more people can use your site, more people can buy your services. It is really that simple.
Simon Norris, managing director at Nomensa, added: A company that focuses on accessibility is ultimately going to reach a larger audience and, in turn, achieve greater market share. Furthermore, this type of thinking is good for companies that want to increase revenues and profitability.
The full report, which reveals further detail about web accessibility online, is available from Nomensa.
Research Methodology:
Each travel industry website was checked against a series of tests, designed to represent key aspects of web accessibility. In addition to providing a league table showing results on a site by site basis, the report identifies the automated and manual techniques used to evaluate each site, the overall score each site achieved and a detailed analysis of the results produced.
About Nomensa:
Nomensa is an internet research and design company dedicated to improving the user experience and ultimately humanising technology. Nomensa actively encourages professional and ethical behaviour as a code of best practise. At the core of its efforts is a commitment to promote social inclusion and accelerate corporate social responsibility. www.nomensa.com
[Register and post your own comments on this article below...]
According to recent research published published 21 October 2005 by internet research and design consultancy Nomensa (www.nomensa.com), the UKs travel agency websites dont meet even the most basic web accessibility guidelines.
Nomensa profiled 10 of the UKs top online travel websites and measured them against a series of manual and automated testing criteria focusing on web accessibility. Issues such as scalable layout, accessible site structure and compatibility with assistive technologies were measured to determine how the sites are performing.
Failings across the board
Accessible web content is essentially good business practice. With results showing 50% of travel sites fail the most basic accessibility standards (the WCAG 1.0 Single A accessibility standards), an untapped commercial opportunity clearly exists. The research also shows 90% of sites are likely to display inconsistently on portable devices such as PDAs, mobile phones and internet-ready televisions.
The report also reveals that 100% of the sites fail to produce valid, accessible HTML code, while 90% of the sites have poor document structure, which prevents users from fully understanding the relative importance of information and how its structured. One positive finding was that 70% of sites carry alternative text descriptions for the majority of graphical content.
Travel sites failing on basic routes to sales
The UK travel industry has seen significant growth in recent years. In parallel, the internet has shown dramatic growth as a means of booking travel and, in the first quarter of 2005, 58% of UK adults had bought goods, tickets or services online.
Taking into account the competitive nature of the UK travel industry, with many online companies undercutting large high street brands, these well-known businesses could gain market share simply by making sure their websites are accessible. Over nine million potential customers (the registered disabled alone) are subject to a poor user experience that may even exclude them from booking online travel.
Travel sites - lessons to learn
Lonie Watson, Head of Accessibility at Nomensa commented: With so many people using the internet for purchases, banking and leisure activities, were surprised to see the travel industry hasnt kept up to speed with engaging online shoppers. Good web accessibility practise isnt exclusively for the disabled: it caters for anyone using the web. If more people can use your site, more people can buy your services. It is really that simple.
Simon Norris, managing director at Nomensa, added: A company that focuses on accessibility is ultimately going to reach a larger audience and, in turn, achieve greater market share. Furthermore, this type of thinking is good for companies that want to increase revenues and profitability.
The full report, which reveals further detail about web accessibility online, is available from Nomensa.
Research Methodology:
Each travel industry website was checked against a series of tests, designed to represent key aspects of web accessibility. In addition to providing a league table showing results on a site by site basis, the report identifies the automated and manual techniques used to evaluate each site, the overall score each site achieved and a detailed analysis of the results produced.
About Nomensa:
Nomensa is an internet research and design company dedicated to improving the user experience and ultimately humanising technology. Nomensa actively encourages professional and ethical behaviour as a code of best practise. At the core of its efforts is a commitment to promote social inclusion and accelerate corporate social responsibility. www.nomensa.com
Comments
garethglynn said:
accessibility <p>I was interested to read this piece and familiar with its findings, which probably apply to at least 50% of all sites on the web. Given the estimates about lost revenues you can only wonder why these practices persist. <br/>* Every 1 invested in improving your website's usability returns 10 to 100 (source: IBM) <br/>* A web usability redesign can increase the sales/conversion rate by 100% (source: Jakob Nielson) <br/> <br/>It?s rather disappointing that nmk's pages are guilty of some of these same failings too, especially in view of the information given on its usability page and associations with LDA and Westminster University. <br/></p>
harryp said:
Standards based design <p>I think the usability/accessibility issue tends to get collapsed somewhat. using this site as an example, yes it falls down on accessibility (not helped by table based layouts and hefty use of graphic headers, and img spacers to get the content where designer wanted it, all sans alt-tags), usability wise (IMHO) it's pretty good. <br/> <br/>There seem to be two extremes. One is the Jacob Nielsen style of sites (see most usability labs etc) that are usable and accessible and look like cardboard and the other, well just have a flick through the main ad agency websites (pop-ups, flash, audio, lots pretty pictures etc but generally useless). In one sense they reflect the age old debate about what the web is really for, and the balance between form and function, software v's online ad space blah blah blah. <br/> <br/>There is an overhead to the css/standards mode, getting the design to work accross all browsers, esp. older IE can be tricky and time consuming and endless hacks and cracks are needed to get it just were you want it. Sometime the client just doesn't want to pay for it and deadlines don't permit (if they don't understand what's under the hood etc....?) why should we spend ages getting the site to meet the browser spec with css when a table does the job. But the long term payoff in terms of accesibiity and flexibilty, SEO etc etc should more than compensate. <br/> <br/>Standards based design doesn't have to equal "bland and boring" and CSS layouts can offer just as flexible formats as tables, it just takes some patience and collaboration between design and code (e.g. not selling a design still someones talked to the guy who's got to build it). We don't have to be ruled by the tyranny of OR anymore, you can have great looking sites AND meet web standards for accessibility and usability. <br/> <br/>Good design doesn't just stop at the flash team, it goes all the way through a site and we need to be better at getting this message across to clients and educating them of the business benefits, if there's a hole the web design industry has helped dig it. <br/> <br/>(PS I have just given up smoking and am feeling a little vociferous)<br/></p>
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