Web accessibility recommendations for the design of tourism websites for people with autism spectrum disorders

The universal Web design represents an ambitious and open challenge for the current research on the Web. Key aspects are Web accessibility and Web usability by people with the widest possible range of abilities, operating within the widest possible range of situations. Universal design is adaptive for the users, and provides personalised answers to different users. A recent study shows an estimation of the global burden of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In the last 24 years, the incidence of autism has a stable prevalence of 7.6 per 1000 or one in 132 persons. They represent a significant number of people. People with Autism Spectrum Disorders are usually solitary and visual thinkers and they could take advantage by the use of the Web. This paper discusses of tourism, website and people with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The aim is to define a set of recommendations for the design of tourist websites for people with Autism Spectrum Disorders, and to present a case study articulated in two tourist, autistic-friendly, websites. The first website considers the area of Rieti, central Italy; it has been validated through expert reviews, and several trials with many autistic, verbal users of a specialised centre for neurological and physical disabilities. The second website contains as a tourist destination the area around Mestre, close to Venice, Italy. In this case, the website has been validated on a single, non-verbal autistic user.