Veterinary clinic and pet business website accessibility: booking, forms and photos

Veterinary clinics, animal hospitals, groomers, boarding kennels and pet sitters usually have small websites with the same few jobs: tell people when you're open, how to reach you in an emergency, and how to book. Pet owners include people who use screen readers, keyboards, magnification or voice control, and many of them are booking on a phone. Here's what to check, in the order a new client meets it.

1. Emergency and after-hours information

If you list an emergency number or a nearby 24-hour hospital, put it as real text near the top of the page, not only inside a banner image or a graphic. Make the phone number a tap-to-call link so it works on mobile and with voice control. (WCAG 1.1.1, WCAG 2.4.4)

<p><strong>After-hours emergencies:</strong>
  call <a href="tel:+15555550123">(555) 555-0123</a>
  (example number).</p>

2. Appointment requests and booking widgets

Many clinics use an appointment-request form or a third-party booking tool. Try requesting an appointment using only the Tab, Enter and arrow keys. Every field (owner name, pet name, species, reason for visit) needs a visible label, not just placeholder text, and errors should say what to fix. If the booking tool traps you, put a phone number and email right next to the "Book" button. (WCAG 3.3.2, WCAG 3.3.1, WCAG 2.1.1) See the booking widget test and accessible contact forms.

<label for="species">Type of pet (required)</label>
<select id="species" name="species" required>
  <option value="">Choose one</option>
  <option>Dog</option><option>Cat</option><option>Other</option>
</select>

3. New-client and boarding forms (PDFs)

Scanned PDF forms for new clients, vaccination records or boarding agreements can't be filled in with a screen reader. Offer an online form, a fillable tagged PDF, or the option to complete it at the front desk or by phone, and say so on the page. See accessible PDFs.

4. Pet photo galleries and team pages

Decorative gallery photos can use empty alt text (alt="") so screen readers skip them. Photos that carry information need short alt text, such as "Dr. Sam Lee, DVM, holding a beagle puppy" (example). Put staff names, credentials and services in text, not baked into an image. (WCAG 1.1.1) See alt text examples and accessible sliders.

5. Services, prices and hours

Grooming price lists and hours are often uploaded as images. Put them in real text or a simple table with header cells so they can be read aloud and zoomed. (WCAG 1.3.1) See accessible tables for prices and hours.

6. Directions, parking and entrance

Don't rely on an embedded map alone. Write the address, parking and step-free entrance details as text, and give any map iframe a title. (WCAG 4.1.2) See the location page guide.

7. Friendly design that still has enough contrast

Playful pastel buttons and light grey text often fall below the 4.5:1 contrast ratio for normal text. Keep the colours, darken the text. Avoid autoplaying video of animals in the header, or add a visible pause button. (WCAG 1.4.3, WCAG 2.2.2) See our contrast guide.

Common mistakes

• The emergency number only appears inside a banner image.
• Appointment form fields use grey placeholder text instead of labels.
• A chat widget or cookie banner covers the "Book" button on mobile. See pop-ups and chat widgets.
• Social icons in the footer have no names. See social icons and embeds.

A 15-minute check you can do today

1. Press Tab from the top of your homepage and try to request an appointment without a mouse. Our keyboard test explains what to look for.
2. Submit the form with a field left empty and read the error.
3. Zoom your browser to 200% and check the emergency number and hours are still visible.
4. Run a free homepage snapshot to catch missing alt text, labels and low-contrast text.

Platform steps: Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, GoDaddy. Our scan is automated, so it finds only part of the barriers on this page and doesn't test booking tools for you. Related: salon and spa websites, medical clinics, accessibility statement template.

This is general technical guidance, not legal or veterinary 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.

Related guides

• Childcare, daycare and preschool website accessibility: enrollment, tours and handbooks
• Photographer website accessibility: galleries, lightboxes, booking and print shops
• WCAG 2.2 explained for small-business websites
• Squarespace accessibility fixes: alt text, contrast, forms and more

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.