Accessibility statement from Barceló Hotel Group
First publication date: June 19, 2025
Last updated: September 4, 2026
I. Organization and Scope
- Responsible entity: Barceló Hotel Group.
- Websites covered by this statement:
- https://www.barcelo.com
- https://reservation.barcelo.com
- Apps and mobile experience: A full audit has not yet been conducted. In 2026, partial project scopes were evaluated, including an accessibility review of the Barceló application design and an audit of the application's Home and search engine, with follow-up through production deployment. In addition, a basic functionality smoke test was carried out on the mobile website for iOS (VoiceOver in Safari) and Android (TalkBack in Chrome). The full evaluation of the mobile and application experience is included in the evaluation plan, as per the remediation plan in Section VI.
- Modules audited to date:
- Booking Home, LP Hotel Booking, Navigation Menu, LP Destination, LP Hotel Info, Core Booking Engine (CBE), and Extras.
- Scope expansion from July to December 2025: Corales Suites, Corales Resort, Login and Registration, Corales Booking, twelve Corales URLs, and hotel page.
- Design accessibility review of four Figma files: Flash Sales, Corals, Step 3, and the Corales menu.
- Scope expansion from January to September 2026: the monitoring of the previous modules was maintained, and the hotel page shifted from a standalone audit to a complete, independent audit with its own remediation plan. The accessibility of the Ancillaries module in the design phase was also reviewed.
- Methodology and tools: audit with manual tests (NVDA, dedicated keyboard navigation and mobile screen readers) complemented by automated assessments (axe DevTools and WAVE).
II. Regulatory Framework, Level of Compliance, and Legal Deadlines
This website is partially-compliant with the UNE-EN 301 549:2023 standard, due to the exceptions and non-accessible content detailed in section V. On a voluntary basis, Barceló Hotel Group also works to comply with the relevant criteria of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, level AA.
Legal references and applicable schedule:
Date | Obligation under Law 11/2023, transposing Directive (EU) 2019/882 |
Jun 28, 2025 | New digital products and services introduced in the market must be accessible from the moment they are launched. |
Jun 28, 2025 | Effective date of application of the framework derived from Directive (EU) 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act). |
June 28, 2030 | End of the transitional period provided for certain cases, such as the continued use of certain previous products or pre-existing service contracts, according to the applicable transitional regime. |
III. Measures to Support Accessibility
Barceló Hotel Group maintains an ongoing digital accessibility program that includes:
- Accessibility audits conducted by A11ySolutions specialists using manual tests, screen readers, and automated tools.
- Integration of accessibility testing into the development and QA workflow.
- Preventive accessibility review of Figma designs before the components reach development.
- Internal training programs, delivered between February and June 2025: strategic introduction to accessibility, WCAG 2.2 for technical teams, inclusive design for UX and interface teams, and development of accessible components.
- Annual roadmap with allocated budget and quantifiable goals.
- Quarterly review of this statement, including verification of remediation progress during each cycle.
Progress during the July to December 2025 period
The improvement plan was executed continuously, with a significant volume of incidents corrected and verified. The fixes prioritized high-impact barriers related to keyboard operability, ARIA structure and semantics of dialogues and carousels, visible focus, messages and statuses announced by screen readers, content reflow to 320 pixels, text resizing up to 200 percent, and color contrast.
Likewise, the preventive approach was reinforced through accessibility reviews in design and complementary audits in a real environment on new critical areas and flows.
Progress from January through September 2026
During this period, 95 accessibility tickets were closed in the project's monitoring system. Of these, 87 corresponded to corrective actions effectively applied on site and verified by accessibility quality control. The remaining eight were closed without corrective action: four were deemed not applicable, and four remained pending resolution.
Distribution of the corrective action by barrier type:
Corrected barrier type | Fixes | Weight |
Screen reader compatibility | 59 | 62% |
Keyboard operability | 18 | 19% |
Color contrast | 8 | 8% |
| Other accessibility barriers | 6 | 6% |
| Resize and zoom | 4 | 4% |
Progress by module:
Module | Fixes applied | Status |
Login and my Barceló Benefits | 24 | 100% fixed |
Corales & Royal Hideaway | 32 | Correction in progress |
Core Booking Engine (CBE) | 22 | Correction in progress |
| Generic components (menu, Booking Home, LP Destination) | 17 | Correction in progress |
| Hotel page | 0 | Audited in 2026, planned corrective action |
The Login and My Barceló Benefits module, which accounted for the accessibility barriers within the sign-in and registration flows, has been fully remediated and no outstanding issues remain.
IV. Evaluation Method
The evaluation was carried out by A11ySolutions accessibility specialists using the following tests:
- Desktop:
- NVDA with Chrome on Windows 11, NVDA with Firefox on Windows 11, and dedicated keyboard navigation.
- Complementary automatic assessments with axe DevTools and WAVE.
- Mobile smoke test: VoiceOver with Safari on iOS and TalkBack with Chrome on Android.
V. Non-accessible content
Below are representative examples of the barriers identified, their associated success criterion, and their current remediation status. This list is updated at each quarterly review of the return.
Module | Barrier identified | WCAG Criteria | Status |
Booking Home | Date picker not operable via keyboard | 2.1.1 Keyboard | Corrected |
Booking Home | Inaccessible accordion component in the room and guest selector | 2.1.1 Keyboard | Corrected |
Core Booking Engine | Date picker without accessible deployment | 4.1.2 Name, function, value | Corrected |
| Extras (mobile) | Modal Dialogue Semantic-Free Dialogs | 4.1.2 Name, function, value | Corrected |
| Login and my Barceló Benefits | Barriers in the Login and Registration Dialogs | 2.1.1 / 4.1.2 / 4.1.3 | Corrected |
| Core Booking Engine | Insufficient contrast on the radio buttons | 1.4.3 Minimum contrast | In progress |
| Global menu | Menu controls not focusable or operable using a keyboard | 2.1.1 Keyboard | In progress |
| Global menu | Insufficient text contrast on background images in the news section | 1.4.3 Minimum contrast | In progress |
| Global menu | Menu content obscured when zoomed to 200% | 1.4.4 and 1.4.10 Reflux | In progress |
| Hotel page | Barriers identified in headers, banner carousel and informational sections | 1.3.1 / 4.1.2 / 1.4.3, among others | Planned |
| Mobile experience | Pending full audit; the design of the application and the Home and search engine have been evaluated | Scope of evaluation | Planned |
VI. Correction plan
The fix is addressed in order of severity and impact on the booking journey, not by volume. The current prioritization order is as follows:
Order | Action | Target window |
1 | Critical and high severity barriers in the booking engine and global navigation components | 2026 - 2027 |
2 | Design definition of the barriers that require prior UX decision before implementation | 2026 - 2027 |
3 | Correction of the hotel page, in accordance with the full audit of 2026 | 2027 |
| 4 | Remediation of the Remaining Barriers in Corales and Royal Hideaway | 2026 - 2027 |
| 5 | Complete mobile and app experience audit | 2026 - 2027 |
The progress of this plan is verified in each quarterly review and is reflected in section V of this statement.
VII. Browser and assistive technology support
The site has been evaluated against the two most recent stable versions of Chrome and Firefox and with the following assistive technology combinations: NVDA with Chrome on Windows 11, NVDA with Firefox on Windows 11, VoiceOver with Safari on iOS, and TalkBack with Chrome on Android.
Limitations may exist when using browsers that are more than three versions old and Internet Explorer 11.
VIII. Feedback and contact
If you notice an accessibility barrier on this website, you can report it to us through the following channels:
- Email: a11y@barcelo.com
- Customer service telephone number.
We usually respond within 72 business hours.
IX. Preparation of the declaration
This statement was reviewed and updated on September 2, 2026, based on the audit described in section IV, the corrective actions and verification monitoring carried out between July and December 2025, and the correction monitoring for the period January to September 2026 described in section III.
This statement will be reviewed at least every three months, or sooner if there are significant changes to the site. The next review is scheduled for December 2026.
Statement prepared by A11ySolutions for Barceló Hotel Group, following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the declaration model recommended by the W3C.
