Restaurant Accessibility Checker

Accessibility Requirements for Restaurant

A restaurant accessibility checker scans the pages guests actually use: the menu, online ordering, reservations and the contact form. The ADA names a restaurant, bar, or other establishment serving food or drink as a public accommodation when its operations affect commerce. The Department of Justice’s web guidance lists food and drink establishments among the businesses that must make the goods and services they offer online accessible.

There is no Title III regulation that sets a technical standard for business websites. The Department of Justice says businesses have flexibility in how they comply, and it points to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as helpful guidance. AccessBell’s ADA preset tests WCAG 2.1 Level AA. A restaurant accessibility checker shows the automated failures on a live page so you can fix the menu and the order flow, then keep checking as the site changes.

In Robles v. Domino’s Pizza, the Ninth Circuit held in 2019 that the ADA applied to Domino’s website and mobile app because they connected customers to the goods and services of its physical restaurants, even when customers used them away from the restaurant. (opens in a new tab, source: Robles v. Domino’s Pizza, 913 F.3d 898 (9th Cir. 2019))

Common Issues on Restaurant Sites

• Menus that are only a picture or a PDF

  A photo of the menu, or a PDF exported without tags, has no text alternative. Screen reader users cannot hear the dishes or the prices. WCAG 1.1.1 requires a text alternative for that content.

• Ordering controls that need a mouse

  Size, modifier and add-to-cart controls built as clickable boxes often have no accessible name and no keyboard support, so a guest cannot build an order without a mouse. That is a WCAG 2.1.1 and 4.1.2 failure.

• Reservation and contact forms

  Date, party size and phone fields are frequently unlabeled, and an error such as “pick a time” is not announced to a screen reader. WCAG 3.3.2 and 3.3.1 cover labels and error identification.

• Allergens and specials shown only by color

  A red dot for spicy, or a green badge for vegetarian, conveys nothing to someone who cannot see that color and nothing to a screen reader. WCAG 1.4.1 requires the information in text as well.

• Embedded ordering and reservation widgets

  Third-party ordering, reservation, review and chat widgets add their own markup. One unlabeled button or focus trap in the widget is on every page that loads it, and your theme cannot fix code the widget owns.

How to Fix What the Scan Finds

1. Start with the pages that take an order or a reservation. A guest who cannot read the menu, choose a dish or submit a booking cannot spend money with you, and those are the journeys restaurant website complaints describe.
2. Publish the menu as real text, or add a text alternative that includes the dishes and prices. Do not rely on a photo or an untagged PDF as the only menu.
3. Name every ordering control in text, such as “Size: large” and “Add margherita pizza”, and check the flow with the keyboard: Tab to each control, activate it with Enter or Space, and leave pop-ups with Escape.
4. Rescan after every theme, plugin or ordering-widget update. A new widget can add unlabeled buttons to every page overnight.
5. Run a free scan above on your homepage and a few key pages, fix issues starting with critical and serious, then rescan to confirm.
6. For ongoing protection, AccessBell Pro monitors up to 500 URLs per domain every day and alerts you when something regresses.

Related Guides

• ADA Compliance CheckerThe free scanner preset for WCAG 2.1 Level AA, for any page.
• WCAG 2.2 AA CheckerThe free scanner preset for WCAG 2.2 Level AA, for any page.
• ADA Title III Law for Businesses: What It Means for Your WebsiteADA Title III law for businesses explained: who it covers, how it applies to websites, what the DOJ and courts expect, the risks and a practical compliance plan.
• ADA Website Compliance: What Businesses Need to KnowHow the ADA applies to websites, which WCAG level courts and regulators reference, the Title II rule for public entities, and practical steps to reduce risk.
• Received an ADA Demand Letter? Here Is What to Do FirstGot an ADA website demand letter? Here is exactly what to do in the first week, what it typically costs to resolve, and how to avoid the next one.
• WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content Explained in Plain EnglishWCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content explained simply: how to write alt text for every kind of image, icon, chart and CAPTCHA, with code examples and a test routine.
• WCAG Success Criteria LibraryLook up any success criterion the scan flags, in plain language.
• Free Accessibility Statement GeneratorPublish a statement once your known issues are fixed.

Restaurant Accessibility Questions