How One DMO Built an Accessible Landing Page in 24 Hours

I wanted to share an observation about TravelAbility that I haven’t experienced before. Attendees left itching for action after learning about the difficulties that people with disabilities endured while they traveled. It seemed to unlock a baseline of empathy and intrinsic goodness in people that they may not have known they had. 

At TravelAbility 2021, attendees learned that a business case can be made for accessibility. Research presented at the conference forecasted the number of people traveling with disabilities will triple over the next 8 years. In that time, 40% of baby boomers are expected to age into disability after they turn 65. Add the fact that corrective actions as simple as adjusting the pressure of a heavy door, moving the trash container that blocks the elevator button for wheelchair users, or simply offering a complimentary water bowl so a blind traveler’s service dog can have water, are regarded as extraordinary forms of customer service because they are so astoundingly rare. No one thinks about these simple solutions, but the ease of adoption has already encouraged some to act.

Several attendees who expected to learn how they could be more compliant, which they perceived would be overwhelming and expensive, left with the understanding that what they really needed to do was provide information for the traveler and training for their staff about setting accurate expectations. 

While the ADA laws provide a base for physical infrastructure in the form of curb cuts, ramps, parking etc., there isn’t any information infrastructure — a fact that makes the experience for people with varying levels and types of disabilities a gamble when they arrive at destination, attraction, or hotel only to be surprised to discover that information they’ve verified by phone was imprecise and unworkable for them. By aggregating accessibility content on various suppliers, DMO websites can be the answer. 

Nate Aron, who is in charge of partnerships for Amelia Island in Florida, approached us about creating an accessible website landing page but didn’t know where to start or what it should contain. He was understandably concerned and asked me for guidance as to which disabilities to include, where to find the information and how to package it.  

20 minutes of research.

As I flew home from Tampa, I pulled out my laptop and sprung for the overpriced inflight wifi, then typed “Accessible Things to do on Amelia Island” into Google. Up popped a blog post, “An Accessible Weekend on Amelia Island” by a travel blogger that contained links to the accessible attractions, museums, coffee shops and restaurants she visited. I then Googled “wheelchair transportation on Amelia Island” and found three wheelchair taxi companies and an accessible charter boat. I forwarded all the links I had found to Nate twenty minutes after I started my search.

“Here’s the first iteration of your accessible landing page. You can begin with wheelchairs and iterate later by adding other disabilities,” I said.

Well, while Rome wasn’t built in a day, Amelia Island’s accessible page was as I received this link from Nate less than 24 hours later.