Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Montco tourism board makes website ADA compliant
Agency is among the first of its kind to take the step
UPPER MERION >> The Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board has made some enhancements to its website — designed to make planning a trip to Montgomery County more accessible for those with disabilities.
Over the past several months, the agency has upgraded its website to be ADA compliant making it one of the first Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant tourism websites in the region. That enhancement “went live” on the site in May, following three months of work to update the entire site.
In addition, the agency has just launched www.accessmontco.com, a page within the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board website that connects visitors with attractions, hotel and dining options to help those with disabilities structure an itinerary for their visit to Montgomery County.
“The first step was getting the
entire website ADA compliant. The next chapter is making people aware of the opportunities in Montco for those with disabilities,” said Ed Harris, chief marketing officer for the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board. “We will be adding as we go, refreshing the opportunities.”
The tourism board is partnering with AudioEye, a web personalization tool that allows organizations to provide website visitors with a fully customizable user experience that can be tailored to their individual needs.
Accessing AudioEye’s assistive tools can benefit all visitors to the website. However, the tools are especially helpful for: aging populations; those with vision, hearing, motor and cognitive disabilities; those who are color blind, dyslexic, learning to read, studying a second language, or who just prefer listening, the agency said.
Harris said the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board works with Simpleview Inc., which does websites for more than 200 destinations around the country.
“They acquired AudioEye and recommended that destinations consider updating their sites to be ADA compliant for the future — to be more inclusive and bring more people to the area,” he said. “We jumped on the idea; we are all in and want to be a leader in the industry.”
The agency’s ADA compliance was certified through its partnership with AudioEye.
Visitors to www.valleyforge.org will notice a blue and white icon in the lower right hand corner of each web page on the site, Harris explained.
“Once you click on that icon it allows you to navigate and adjust settings for the site,” he said.
When a visitor to the website clicks the icon, a toolbar pops up on the screen. Among the options are: READER, which allows a visitor to change the page Enhancements to the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board’s website make the site ADA compliant and increases accessibility for those with disabilities. Once visitors click on the ADA icon, a toolbar will appear — as seen at the right of this photo. From there, visitors can change the font and contrast of the text on the page, or have the information read aloud. layout, font and contrast — including background colors; and PLAYER, which allows the visitor to have the information on the page read aloud by the tool.
Among the attractions initially featured on the accessibility website is the Elmwood Park Zoo, which offers scooter rentals and free guided tours for visitors with visual impairments. As a Certified Autism Center the zoo offers early access mornings, quiet evenings, sensory guides and quiet spaces. Suburban Square Shopping Center in Ardmore, LEGOLAND, Colebrookdale Railroad and Valley Forge National Historical Park are also among the initial attractions featured on the tourism agency’s accessibility page. The page also has information about ADA compliant hotels and restaurants that are pet- and service animal accessible.
“We’re always expanding our audience, and so we want to make sure our website is fresh, but not just with photos and videos,” Harris said, adding that keeping it fresh is also about enhancements that make the site — and Montgomery County — “more inclusive.”
Harris said it is a bit too soon to say how users are responding to the new ADA compliant site. He said the agency usually looks at data after an initiative has been in place for at least a full three months. However, he said that anecdotally, there has been some positive early feedback.
Additional recent enhancements to the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board website through its website partner Simpleview Inc. have included:
JackRabbit, a booking referral engine embedded directly on www.valleyforge. org to provide destination visitors with hotel rates and availability. Visitors can also search for packages and activities. GolfNow is an online booking service for tee times at area golf courses. The tool is embedded directly on MontcoGolf.com.
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