My family has a yearly tradition of going out for Italian food the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving. This time, we wanted to try a new and seemingly popular restaurant that recently opened in my area. To avoid a potentially long wait for a table, I wanted to make a reservation to secure our spot. I turned to my smartphone for this seemingly simple task.
In the rest of this blog, I will narrate my way through the reservation booking experience, discussing various accessibility points along the way. My mission is to highlight real-world examples of the accessibility challenges that I discuss in other blogs. Mobile screen readers will be the main focus here.
Text Field Troubles
I could find a direct link to the reservations section of this restaurant’s website through my smartphone’s built-in maps and navigation application, eliminating the need to search the site for reservation booking options manually. However, I encountered my first set of accessibility issues right away.
There were three text fields on the page, none with text labels in the code for screen reader recognition.
My screen reader spoke the vague, meaningless phrase “Blank, Text Field, Is Editing” as I navigated to each field individually using manual swipe navigation.
Instead of giving up, I relied on context clues to proceed. The first field, paired with the number pad on my keyboard, seemed to call for a numerical value—likely party size. The second field capitalized each word I typed, indicating it was for a name. As for the third field, its purpose was unclear, but I left it blank and moved on.
Curiosity got the better of me, and I later confirmed with a sighted friend that the third field was for special seating requests. While this process was far from accessible, I managed to continue. Unfortunately, as a screen reader user, I often have to play detective to overcome poor web accessibility.
Learn about more common accessibility challenges on mobile here.
Easy Day and Time Selection
The next screen provided a much better experience. The day and time selection interface featured accessible drop-down scroll wheels for the date and check-box buttons for the time. These elements worked seamlessly with my screen reader.
This interface made it easy to differentiate between available and unavailable time slots—a common issue in less accessible time pickers. It was refreshing to navigate this part of the process without significant barriers.
Phone Fiasco
The final step before confirming my reservation was entering my phone number. While the field was labeled (a pleasant surprise), I could not bring up my on-screen keyboard to input the number.
Despite my screen reader’s cursor being in the field, the keyboard wouldn’t appear. This critical flaw could have stopped me, but I managed to work around it by connecting a Bluetooth keyboard to my phone.
Summary: The Path Forward for Accessible Dining Experiences
My experience making this reservation highlights several critical accessibility considerations:
- Unlabeled text fields force assistive technology users to guess or rely on sighted help.
- Accessible date and time pickers can make navigation smoother for screen reader users.
- Properly labeled and functional text fields, especially for essential inputs like phone numbers, are vital to a seamless user journey.
Restaurants and other businesses must invest in accessible digital experiences to avoid alienating customers and losing revenue. Proactively addressing these issues ensures inclusivity and fosters positive customer experiences for all.
A Call for Accessible Restaurant Websites
This overall experience fell short in terms of accessibility. While I eventually made my reservation, I had to rely on unnecessary workarounds. Customers like me shouldn’t have to struggle to use your website, especially during busy seasons like the holidays, when competition for diners is fierce.
Restaurants and other businesses must prioritize digital accessibility now to ensure inclusivity, maximize reach, and avoid losing valuable customer relationships. The time to act is today—every moment of delay risks leaving customers frustrated and seeking alternatives.
Read more about why accessibility can't wait in 2025 here.
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Editor's Note: This is a post by our marketing intern, Michael Taylor. This post reflects his opinions and experiences. Read more about Michael and some other posts on his experience online here.
