Chiropractor, physical therapy and massage website accessibility: booking, intake forms, exercise videos and patient portals

Chiropractic, physical therapy and massage practices see a lot of people who are in pain, recovering from surgery or an injury, or living with a disability. Many of them book on a phone with one hand, use a screen reader or magnifier, or struggle with fine mouse movements. Here's what to check on the pages they use most: booking, intake forms, prices and insurance, exercise videos and the patient portal.

1. Online booking

Most practices use a third-party scheduler. Check that you can pick a provider, a service ("60-minute massage", "PT evaluation") and a time using only the keyboard, that available and booked slots aren't shown by colour alone, and that the time buttons are big enough to tap. (WCAG 2.1.1, WCAG 1.4.1, WCAG 2.5.8) Put your phone number next to the booking button as named, tap-to-call text so anyone stuck has another way in. See booking widgets.

2. New-patient intake forms

Intake forms are long: contact details, injury history, pain areas, medications, consent. Every field needs a visible label, related choices need a fieldset and legend, and errors must say what to fix in words. Don't ask for the same details twice across pages, and warn people before a form times out. (WCAG 3.3.2, WCAG 1.3.1, WCAG 3.3.1, WCAG 3.3.7, WCAG 2.2.1) See accessible contact forms and form error messages.

<fieldset>
  <legend>Where do you feel pain? (choose all that apply)</legend>
  <input type="checkbox" id="pain-neck" name="pain" value="neck">
  <label for="pain-neck">Neck</label>
  <input type="checkbox" id="pain-lower-back" name="pain" value="lower-back">
  <label for="pain-lower-back">Lower back</label>
</fieldset>

3. Body diagrams

A clickable body map ("tap where it hurts") can't be used with a keyboard or screen reader unless every area is a real, named button. The simplest fix is to offer the same choices as a checkbox list, like the example above, next to or instead of the diagram. (WCAG 1.1.1, WCAG 4.1.2)

4. Prices, packages and insurance

Put session prices, packages, accepted insurance and cancellation policy on the page as text or a simple table, not in a flyer image or a scanned PDF. (WCAG 1.1.1, WCAG 1.3.1) See accessible tables and accessible PDFs.

<table>
  <caption>Massage prices (example values)</caption>
  <tr><th scope="col">Session</th><th scope="col">Length</th><th scope="col">Price</th></tr>
  <tr><td>Deep tissue</td><td>60 minutes</td><td>$95</td></tr>
</table>

5. Home-exercise and explainer videos

Exercise videos need captions, and because the movement itself matters, say the key steps out loud or write them under the video ("Lie on your back, bend both knees, slowly lift your hips"). Don't autoplay videos with sound, and give background loops a visible pause button. (WCAG 1.2.2, WCAG 1.2.3, WCAG 2.2.2) See video captions and transcripts.

6. Patient portals and logins

If patients log in to see appointments, exercise plans or invoices, test that the login works with a password manager, lets people paste, and doesn't depend on a puzzle CAPTCHA. (WCAG 3.3.8) If the portal is a vendor's, report problems to them. See CAPTCHA and login accessibility.

7. Clinic details, photos and readable design

Put the address, parking, entrance and step-free access details on the page as plain, factual text (describe what's there; avoid a blanket "fully accessible" claim). Give provider photos short alt text ("Dr. Patel, chiropractor" (example)), keep body text at 4.5:1 contrast, check the page at 200% zoom on a phone, and name links by where they go ("Book a PT evaluation", not "Learn more"). (WCAG 1.1.1, WCAG 1.4.3, WCAG 1.4.10, WCAG 2.4.4) See location pages and map embeds and alt text examples.

Common mistakes

• The intake form is a fill-in PDF that can't be completed with a screen reader.
• "Tap where it hurts" body maps with no list alternative.
• Exercise videos with no captions and no written steps.
• Prices and insurance info live only in an image.
• A "new patient special" pop-up traps keyboard focus on mobile. See pop-ups and chat widgets.

A 15-minute check you can do today

1. Book an appointment using only Tab, Shift+Tab, Space and Enter. Our keyboard test explains what to look for.
2. Submit the intake form with a required field empty and read the error out loud: does it say what to fix?
3. Open your price page at 200% zoom on a phone-sized window and check nothing is cut off.
4. Play your most-viewed exercise video with captions on and check the steps make sense without watching.
5. Run a free homepage snapshot to catch missing alt text, unnamed buttons, missing labels and low-contrast text.

Platform steps: WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, GoDaddy. Our scan is automated, so it finds only part of the barriers on this page and doesn't test third-party booking tools, patient portals or videos for you. Related: medical clinic websites, therapist and counseling websites, fitness studio websites, HHS Section 504 web rule, accessibility statement template.

This is general technical guidance, not legal or medical advice, and it doesn't certify compliance with the ADA or any law.

Want the fixes written for you?

Start with a free homepage snapshot. The $149 Fix-Pack scans up to 10 pages and gives copy-paste fixes for your platform within 48 hours, with a 14-day refund promise. See a sample report first.

This is general technical guidance, not legal advice, and it does not certify compliance with the ADA or any law.

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All guides

This guide is general technical information, not legal advice. Following it does not certify ADA or any legal compliance. Automated checks find only part of accessibility barriers.