Impact of Hotel Web Accessibility for Customers with Disabilities on Their Purchasing Decisions

Abstract

More than one billion people around the world have some kind of disability. The main concern of web accessibility was the persons with disabilities, who represent a significant portion of any market. They might have difficulty accessing web content and thus sharing the benefits of rich information exchange. This research aimed to explore the impact of hotel web accessibility for customers with disabilities on their purchasing decisions. A quantitative approach was adopted in this research and a web-based questionnaire for a sample of expected customers and in-house guests with disabilities (106 participants). They were in four, and five-star hotels located in Red Sea province (Hurghada, Marsa Alam, and Safaga) and South Sinai province (Sharm El Sheikh). The research data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one sample T-test, and linear regression coefficients. The results revealed that there was a lack of Egyptian hotels' web accessibility. The findings of the research indicated that perceivability (β = 0.959, Sig. = 0.000), operability (β = 0.900, Sig. = 0.000), understandability (β = 0.725, Sig. = 0.000), and robustability (β = 0.818, Sig. = 0.000) in web accessibility assessment criteria influenced significantly purchasing decisions. This research provided valuable recommendations to enhance web accessibility and purchasing decisions for customers with disabilities in Egyptian hotels.