Smart and Accessible Cities?

This chapter aims to discuss disability, aging, and accessibility and their relationship with technology trends, taking into account a world full of different kind of constraints, taking Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Sydney (Australia) as study cases. Moreover, the authors also study how a hypothetically smart and accessible city could set the basis for making it touristic for all. Particularly, this chapter focuses on how cities that are being designed and planned under the smart city/destination model do not always consider people with disabilities and seniors in their models. So, these models that leave out more than the 30% of the world's population are not only inappropriate but also ineffective and inefficient, and consequently challenge the underlining sustainability of such projects.

Accessibility to Spa Experiences

This chapter aims to highlight and raise awareness of the previously unknown barriers currently faced by wheelchair using consumers in the spa industry and the implications of these barriers for consumer and industry alike. Existing research on accessibility within this specific environment is extremely limited (if any). This study shows that access to accurate information is a key issue, a key barrier to participation and not only for those who have not visited a spa before. Gaining information pre visit in tourism is increasingly done online and there is the opportunity to use technologies and especially websites and social media platforms to help provide this information. The chapter also illustrates the potential for health and greater mental and social wellbeing the spa industry and the wider wellness tourism industry have for wheelchair users and how they could mutually benefit each other, as well as further promoting the case for barrier free accessible tourism and leisure opportunities.

Travel by People With Physical Disabilities

It is acknowledged that access to tourism by persons with disabilities continues to be shaped by a variety of constraints that are not being clearly or consistently addressed by those in charge of tourism planning and management. Based on these assumptions, this chapter is focused on the identification of structural constraints and negotiation strategies that influence the decision and participation to travel for people with physical disabilities. To achieve these objectives, the chapter used a qualitative methodology, with the analysis and discussion of the information collected through in-depth interviews. Results may ultimately contribute to deepen the knowledge about the factors that influence people with disabilities travel choices, allowing to identify specific recommendations for improving the tourist supply chain and, consequently, for the overall tourist experience quality.

Smart Cities and Accessible Tourism

Promoting accessibility in tourism can impact on other areas, including sustainable mobility, social inclusion, and territorial marketing, since it implies taking the needs of all people into account to access tourism products and services, including those with permanent or temporary disabilities. Smart cities may change the way people experience their surroundings and their ability to provide contextual services is a key aspect to make cities more accessible, comprehensible, and enjoyable. The systematic review reported by the present chapter aimed to identify relevant research studies supported by smart cities infrastructures with an impact on accessible tourism. The literature search and the analysis of the retrieved articles were performed according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The results identify the most relevant achievements related to accessible tourism in the context of smart cities, including the types of smart services being developed and their maturity level.

Assistive Technologies in Museums for People With Visual Impairments

Museums are important cultural places where technology, and specifically assistive technology, offers a prime opportunity for people with visual impairments to access the exhibition and the space. People with visual impairments represent a large group of the population but still experience several constraints during their museum visits. Nevertheless, there are few studies on the importance of assistive technologies in museums. This chapter aims to discuss the relevance of technology in museums and to identify guidelines to implement assistive technologies in order to improve the experience of people with visual impairments during their visits to museums. A reflection on the potential of assistive technologies for people with visual impairments and some guidelines are provided in order to promote more accessible and inclusive museums.

The Challenges of Accessible Tourism Information Systems for Tourists With Vision Impairment

Developments in accessible tourism and the provision of information and communication technologies (ICT), mobile, and assistive technologies have arguably not resulted in equitable opportunities for vision-impaired people. This chapter outlines accessible information needs of vision impaired tourists, drawing upon a small-scale project of nine telephone interviews conducted by Wales Council of the Blind. It considers user experiences in the context of ICT to help vision impaired tourists navigate information systems such as travel apps, social media, and websites, assessing how these technologies meet user needs. Interviews focused on information provision, pre-planning and travel stages of the tourism system, and the challenges for universal design. Designers and tourism providers have roles as facilitators of accessible tourism, enabling vision-impaired tourists to feel included in experiences. This requires collaboration across the tourism ecosystem from digital developers and marketers alongside disabled people as active stakeholders.

Museum Website Accessibility Examined Using Automatic Diagnostic Tools

This chapter examines the website accessibility of museums located in Portugal (N = 575), based on the web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG 2.0), and on the three type of conformance levels (A, AA, and AAA), using two web diagnostic tools: AccessMonitor and TAW (Test de Accessibilidad Web). The results show that the average accessibility of museum websites is 5.80 on a scale from 1 to 10. However, while according to AccessMonitor, there are 14 websites (2.43% of the total) with a level of accessibility of 10 (excellent web accessibility practices); there are also some websites with a global index lower than 3 (classified as bad practice). The results obtained through TAW show that an average of 58.43 problems were identified in each website analyzed. These results highlight that several improvements should be introduced in the websites of Portuguese museums in order to make information available to all people.

Use of the Internet to Plan Tourism Trips by People With Special Needs

This chapter aims to examine internet usage to plan a tourism trip by people with special needs (PwSN), particularly addressing differences in the intensity of internet usage according to their age and education level. To achieve these aims, a survey was applied to a sample of Portuguese people with special needs who have already undertaken tourism trips. Various bivariate statistical tests (chi-square, t test, ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis) were used to examine differences in internet usage according to respondents' age and education level. Results obtained reveal that the internet is the most important information source used by PwSN in planning their tourism trips. However, respondents report that they are not very satisfied with the online sources used. Moreover, online sources used to plan tourism activities vary according to PwSNs' age and education level.

An Empirical Investigation of the Accessibility of Official European Tourism Websites

This chapter presents an investigation into the accessibility of official tourism websites of 26 EU member states. It is divided into two main parts. The first part is focused on the theoretical background of web accessibility, where the definition of accessibility, accessibility laws, accessibility recommendations, accessibility automatic tools, and related research are presented. The second part includes an empirical investigation with the main focus being on evaluating the compliance of tourism websites with web content accessibility guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) and the identification of the most commonly violated WCAG 2.1 success criteria. The results, which are based on automatic tool multiguideline accessibility usability validation environment (MAUVE), show that all investigated websites included at least one error. The most frequently identified errors were related to success criteria (1) reflow; (2) name, role, value; (3) link purpose (in context); and (4) purpose identification. Based on the acquired knowledge, the recommendations for improving web accessibility are presented.

The Accessibility of Museum Websites

Tourism accessibility has emerged as a topic to be discussed and studied by both academics and professionals. In this line, museums have started to adapt their offer to their diverse audience, including people with disabilities and people with special needs. In this regard, museum websites, as a powerful information channel to promote visitation, must also be adapted to make its information accessible. Therefore, this chapter aims at exploring accessibility and accessible information of museums' websites using a holistic approach. As a case study, 45 museums in the city of Barcelona are considered and accessibility of tourism websites is assessed by means of content analysis, taking as reference four categories and 36 items that have emerged from previous literature review. Findings reveal that museums websites are still far from being considered accessible, and improvements in several areas are required.