Golf course and country club website accessibility: tee times, memberships and events

Public golf courses, country clubs and private clubs run most of their business through the website: tee-time booking, rates, membership enquiries, events, dining reservations and a member portal. Golfers and members include many older people and people with low vision, arthritis or other disabilities, and adaptive golf is growing. If the tee sheet only works with a mouse, rates are a photo of a sign, or the member login uses a picture puzzle, they call the pro shop instead or go elsewhere. Here's what to check.

1. Tee-time booking

Tee sheets are usually a third-party widget. Check that the date, course and time can all be chosen with the keyboard, that full or blocked times say so in text (not just greyed out), and that the number of available spots is announced. When a filter changes the list, tell screen reader users how many times are showing. (WCAG 2.1.1, WCAG 4.1.2, WCAG 1.4.1, WCAG 4.1.3)

<button type="button" aria-pressed="false">8:10 AM, 4 spots, $45</button>
<button type="button" disabled>8:20 AM, full</button>
<p role="status">12 tee times available on Saturday, Nov 7.</p>
<!-- example values -->

Run our booking widget test on yours, and ask the vendor for its accessibility conformance report (often called a VPAT); see VPATs explained.

2. Players, holes and cart choices

Plus and minus buttons for the number of players need names, and the total should be announced. Choices like 9 or 18 holes and walking or riding should be real radio groups with a legend, not coloured tiles. (WCAG 1.3.1, WCAG 3.3.2, WCAG 2.5.8)

<button type="button" aria-label="Remove a player">−</button>
<span aria-live="polite">3 players</span>
<button type="button" aria-label="Add a player">+</button>
<fieldset>
  <legend>Holes</legend>
  <label><input type="radio" name="holes" value="9"> 9 holes</label>
  <label><input type="radio" name="holes" value="18"> 18 holes</label>
</fieldset>
<fieldset>
  <legend>Cart</legend>
  <label><input type="radio" name="cart" value="walk"> Walking</label>
  <label><input type="radio" name="cart" value="ride"> Riding cart</label>
</fieldset>
<!-- example values -->

3. Rates, hours and course details as text

Green fees, twilight rates, cart fees and range prices are often a photo of the rate board or a PDF. Put them in a real table with headers so they can be read, zoomed and found by search. Do the same for hours, frost delays and course closures. (WCAG 1.4.5, WCAG 1.3.1) See accessible pricing and hours tables.

<table>
  <caption>Weekend green fees</caption>
  <tr><th scope="col">Round</th><th scope="col">Walking</th><th scope="col">With cart</th></tr>
  <tr><th scope="row">18 holes</th><td>$42</td><td>$58</td></tr>
  <tr><th scope="row">9 holes</th><td>$24</td><td>$32</td></tr>
</table>
<!-- example values -->

4. Course maps, hole-by-hole pages and flyovers

A scorecard image or hole map needs a text version: par, yardage from each tee and a short description ("Par 4, 385 yards from the white tees, dogleg left with water on the right"). Caption flyover videos and don't auto-play them with sound. (WCAG 1.1.1, WCAG 1.2.2, WCAG 2.2.2) See alt text examples and video captions.

5. Access details, stated factually

Say what you actually offer, such as single-rider or adaptive carts, accessible parking near the clubhouse, a step-free entrance, accessible restrooms and whether carts may go off the path for players with disabilities, and give a phone number to arrange it. Avoid "fully accessible" with no detail. Example: "We have one single-rider adaptive cart. Call the pro shop at least 24 hours ahead to reserve it." (example wording)

6. Membership enquiries, events and dining forms

Membership enquiry, outing, wedding and dining reservation forms need visible labels (not placeholder text), autocomplete on name, email and phone, and errors that say which field and how to fix it in text. Keep what people already typed, and don't ask twice for details they gave earlier in the same form. (WCAG 3.3.2, WCAG 1.3.5, WCAG 3.3.1, WCAG 3.3.7)

<label for="name">Full name</label>
<input id="name" name="name" autocomplete="name">
<label for="email">Email</label>
<input id="email" name="email" type="email" autocomplete="email">
<label for="mtype">Membership you're interested in</label>
<select id="mtype" name="mtype"><option>Full golf</option><option>Social</option></select>
<!-- example values -->

See accessible contact forms and form error messages. Event pages and banquet menus should be text, not flyer images; see accessible PDFs and menus.

7. Member portal logins and time limits

Member portals for tee sheets, statements and the club directory shouldn't depend on remembering a code or solving a picture puzzle with no alternative. Let password managers fill the login, allow pasting, and warn before a session or booking hold times out with a way to extend it. (WCAG 3.3.8, WCAG 2.2.1) See login and CAPTCHA accessibility.

8. Contrast, zoom and pop-ups

Club sites love thin white text over course photos and pale green on white. Body text needs at least 4.5:1 contrast, and the booking page must still work at 200% zoom and on a narrow phone. Membership or newsletter pop-ups must close with Escape and not trap keyboard focus. (WCAG 1.4.3, WCAG 1.4.10, WCAG 2.4.3) See the contrast checker guide and the pop-up and chat widget checklist.

Common mistakes

• A tee sheet that only works with a mouse, with full times only greyed out.
• Unnamed plus and minus buttons for players.
• Green fees as a photo of the rate board.
• Scorecards and hole maps with no text version.
• "Fully accessible" with no facts about carts, parking or entrances.
• Membership and event forms with placeholder text instead of labels.
• A member login that blocks password managers.
• An overlay widget instead of real fixes; see overlays vs real fixes.

A 15-minute check you can do today

1. Using only Tab, Shift+Tab, arrow keys, Space and Enter, book a tee time for 3 players, 18 holes, riding, and reach the confirmation step.
2. Check you can always see where keyboard focus is, and close any pop-up with Escape.
3. Find this weekend's green fees. Are they text you can select?
4. Zoom to 200% on a laptop and check the times and the book button still fit without sideways scrolling.
5. From the home page, can you find out in under a minute whether you offer an adaptive cart and how to reserve it?

Our keyboard test and screen reader test walk you through it.

What a scan can and can't check here

Our scan is automated, so it finds only part of the barriers on this page: missing alt text, unlabelled fields and buttons, low contrast and similar code problems on the pages it visits. It can't book a real tee time, log in to a member portal, test a vendor's tee-sheet widget behind a login, or judge whether your access details are accurate, which is why the 15-minute check matters. Related: gym and fitness studio websites, wedding and event venues, restaurant websites, booking widgets.

This is general technical guidance, not legal 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.