As a hospitality business, it's important to make sure all your guests feel welcome and comfortable. "Hospitality" is the name of the game, after all. But each guest has unique needs, and it can be difficult to remember when those needs differ from your own. For example, some people rely on screen reading technology to navigate websites, and if a website isn't optimized for that, then these people will have a hard time interacting with it. People in wheelchairs can't access stairs-only places. Some people rely on service dogs for medical or psychological needs.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects needs like these, and you can be held liable for failing to accommodate people with disabilities. This is a great help to people who depend on these accommodations to live their lives, but drive-by litigations do also happen from time to time.
One recent tactic of litigious people is to target hospitality businesses by claiming that they don't meet ADA compliance standards through online travel agencies, even if your own website is ADA friendly. But you can also be at risk of litigation if your property isn't wheelchair accessible, among other things.
Physical ADA
The first category of ADA compliance is physical, and includes things like ramp wheelchair access, grab bars in bathrooms, and service animal accommodation.
In general, if it is reasonable to make renovations to your property to make it more accessible, then it's a good idea to do so. Now, do you rent out a historic site to guests with hand-carved wooden doorframes? You probably won't have to widen those doorframes for wheelchair access if doing so would change the nature of your property. A great resource to check physical ADA guidelines can be found at
adachecklist.org. Online ADA
The second category of ADA compliance is online. You can improve your online accessibility by optimizing your color contrast so visually disabled people can read it, and by keeping your text fields properly labeled and organized to work with screen readers. In addition, hospitality properties and other places of lodging must follow 5 items found
28 C.F.R. ยง36.302(e), and specific guidelines can be
found here.Online ADA litigation in particular has seen a drastic increase in recent years. 2,352 website accessibility lawsuits were filed in 2021 alone.
In Conclusion
Accounting for all of these requirements can seem daunting, especially to smaller properties. But there are simple steps you can take to protect your business from litigation, and make it more accessible to everyone.
Watch the recorded ResNexus webinar below for an in-depth presentation on the most common ins and outs of ADA compliance.
