Cognitive accessibility in tourism: an AI-based framework for specific learning disabilities

Abstract

The information about tourism is now widely available in digital form, but not accessible for everyone, especially for people with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) like dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia. Such situations lead to cognitive and informational challenges in reading, numerical processing and written interaction, which are not often dealt with by most accessible tourism programs available in the mainstream. Physical and sensory access are the primary focus of these programs. This point of view suggests an adaptive model of cognitive accessibility in tourism based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), which will transform textual, numerical content and written communication in three interconnected modes: ReadEasy, which facilitates reading; NumberEasy, which supports the understanding of numerical content; and WriteEasy, which supports written interaction through voice. The framework is designed to address inequality in access to information and may promote more independent digital engagement of travelers with SLDs if its adaptations are shown to be accurate, usable, and beneficial, thereby supporting the SDG 10.2 social and economic inclusion target, and further enhance experiences along the tourism journey through personalized formats and interaction paths. The article conceptually redefines the role of personalization through AI as an equity-driven approach to inclusive tourism rather than merely a marketing and efficiency-focused approach and suggests a direction for prototyping and empirically testing the proposed system.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism, 2026 · DOI ↗