Wedding and event venue website accessibility: tours, availability, pricing and floor plans

Wedding venues, event spaces, banquet halls, wineries and caterers sell a big, once-in-a-lifetime purchase through a few pages: photos, a pricing guide, an availability calendar and a "Book a tour" form. Couples, parents, grandparents and guests with disabilities all use those pages, and many of them first want to know whether they can get into the building. Here's what to check, in the order a planner meets it.

1. Tour and inquiry forms

The inquiry form is where browsing becomes a booking. Every field (names, email, event date, guest count, event type) needs a visible label, not grey placeholder text, and errors should say exactly what to fix ("Enter an estimated guest count as a number"). (WCAG 3.3.2, WCAG 3.3.1) See accessible contact forms and form error messages.

<label for="guest-count">Estimated number of guests</label>
<input id="guest-count" name="guest-count" type="number" min="1"
  aria-describedby="guest-count-hint">
<p id="guest-count-hint">A rough number is fine.</p>

2. Availability calendars and date pickers

Many venues embed a calendar showing open dates. Check that you can move between months and pick a date with only the keyboard, that buttons such as "Next month" have names, and that booked and open dates aren't shown by colour alone. Add a word or icon with text, such as "Booked". (WCAG 2.1.1, WCAG 4.1.2, WCAG 1.4.1) If the calendar is a third-party widget, test it with the booking widget test and offer a phone number and email beside it.

3. Pricing guides and packages

Pricing is often a designed PDF brochure or a screenshot sent after an inquiry. Put package names, what's included, guest minimums and starting prices on a web page in real text or a simple table, and offer a tagged PDF if you keep the brochure. (WCAG 1.3.1) See accessible tables for prices and accessible PDFs and menus.

<table>
  <caption>Saturday packages (example values)</caption>
  <tr><th scope="col">Package</th><th scope="col">Guests</th><th scope="col">Starting price</th></tr>
  <tr><th scope="row">Ceremony and reception</th><td>up to 150</td><td>$6,500</td></tr>
</table>

4. Describe your access in words

The question many guests can't answer from a venue website is practical: is there step-free entry, where is the accessible parking, is the ceremony site on grass or gravel, how far is it from the reception room, are restrooms on the same level? Add a short "Getting here and getting around" section in plain text. Describe what's there factually, and don't call the venue "fully accessible" unless you've checked every space. This isn't a WCAG test, but it's often what decides the booking.

5. Venue photos, galleries and floor plans

Photos that sell a space can get short alt text, such as "Barn reception hall set with long wooden tables and string lights" (example). Floor plans and seating charts uploaded as images need the key facts in text nearby: room names, capacity for seated dinners and standing receptions, and where the dance floor and exits are. (WCAG 1.1.1) Lightbox galleries need named buttons and must close with Escape; see the photographer website guide for copyable code and alt text examples.

6. Video tours, 360° tours and slideshows

Venue films and walkthrough videos need captions and shouldn't autoplay with sound. A homepage slideshow that moves on its own needs a visible pause button. 360° virtual tours are often hard to use without a mouse, so give a short text description of each space next to the tour. (WCAG 1.2.2, WCAG 2.2.2) See video captions and accessible sliders.

7. Script fonts, text over photos and links

Elegant script fonts and thin white text over photos are common on wedding sites. Keep script for short decorative headings, set body text in a readable font, and make sure text and buttons reach a 4.5:1 contrast ratio. Name links by their destination, such as "Download the 2027 catering menu (PDF)", not "Click here". (WCAG 1.4.3, WCAG 2.4.4) See our contrast guide, readability guide and link text and buttons.

Common mistakes

• The only way to see prices is to submit a form and wait for a PDF.
• The availability calendar marks booked dates in red and open dates in green, with no text.
• Capacity and parking details exist only inside a floor-plan image.
• A chat pop-up covers the "Schedule a tour" button on mobile. See pop-ups and chat widgets.

A 15-minute check you can do today

1. Press Tab from the top of your homepage and request a tour without a mouse, including picking a date. Our keyboard test explains what to look for.
2. Submit the inquiry form with the guest count left empty and read the error.
3. Zoom to 200% on a phone-sized window and check packages and directions are still readable. (WCAG 1.4.10)
4. Ask whether a guest who uses a wheelchair could find, from your site alone, how to get from parking to the ceremony.
5. Run a free homepage snapshot to catch missing alt text, unnamed buttons, missing 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 calendars, virtual tours or your physical venue. Related: hotel and B&B websites, restaurant websites, accessibility statement template.

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.

Related guides

• Funeral home website accessibility: obituaries, livestreams, service details and price lists
• WCAG 2.2 explained for small-business websites
• Squarespace accessibility fixes: alt text, contrast, forms and more
• Wix accessibility fixes: a practical checklist

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.