Making restaurant digital experiences accessible to all diners — including the 26% of US adults with some form of disability.
Restaurant menus, whether digital or PDF, need to be readable by everyone. Item names should meet 4.5:1 contrast at their displayed size. Descriptions and prices need the same standard. Many restaurant websites use decorative fonts with thin strokes that reduce effective contrast — if you use a light typeface, increase the contrast ratio to compensate. ColorArchive's WCAG auditor can verify your text-on-background combinations.
Dietary labels (vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free) and allergen warnings are often color-coded with small colored dots. This fails for color-blind users and anyone viewing on a low-quality screen. Use icons with text labels instead of or alongside color indicators. If you do use color-coded dots, ensure they differ in luminance — a dark green dot and a light orange dot remain distinguishable even without hue perception.
Date pickers, time slot selectors, and menu item customization forms must be accessible. Selected states need more than just a color change — add a checkmark, border weight change, or underline. Error states in ordering forms (required fields, invalid inputs) should use both color and text messaging. These improvements help all users, not just those with disabilities, complete orders faster and with fewer errors.
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