Stampede has introduced new accessibility features to its Bookings platform, allowing hospitality guests to state specific seating requirements when making a reservation.

The update allows guests to select requirements including wheelchair access, prams and buggies, high chairs and dogs, with the booking system then showing only dates and times when a suitable table is available according to their requirements.

Stampede has also introduced an AI voice calling option, allowing guests who prefer to book by telephone to make reservations through a conversational voice assistant.

Making accessibility part of the booking process

The new features have been introduced as part of an August 2026 update to Stampede’s booking and table-management platform.

The company says the changes are designed to address some of the uncertainty that can arise when accessibility requirements are communicated through traditional booking processes.

Historically, a guest requiring wheelchair access or another specific seating arrangement may have needed to call or email a venue, or leave a request in a booking comment box. This relies on a member of the team seeing the request and making sure the appropriate table is available.

The updated Stampede interface allows guests to select their requirements during the booking process.

Venues can identify tables that are suitable for wheelchair access, prams, high chairs and dogs, while a free-text field allows guests to provide additional information that isn’t covered by the standard options.

Once a requirement has been selected, guests will only be shown booking times where an appropriate table is available.

The requirement also remains attached to the booking, with the venue’s seating plan highlighting and suggesting suitable tables for the floor team on the day.

Accessibility remains a challenge for hospitality

The update comes against a backdrop of continuing accessibility challenges across the hospitality sector.

UK Government research published in 2025 found that 73% of respondents who identified entertainment and hospitality as one of their three most inaccessible sectors had experienced access barriers at restaurants, cafés and food establishments.

The research also found that the physical building, space or environment was the most commonly reported barrier within entertainment and hospitality, highlighting that accessibility extends beyond the digital booking process.

For Stampede, building accessibility requirements into the booking journey is intended to give guests greater confidence that their needs can be accommodated before they arrive, while giving venue teams the information they need in advance.

For operators, the system can also reduce the risk of accepting a booking where a suitable table isn’t available and reduce some of the telephone calls required to discuss individual requirements.

AI telephone bookings

The accessibility update also includes a new AI voice calling option.

Stampede says the feature is designed to support guests who prefer to book by telephone, including those for whom a digital-first booking journey may not be the most accessible option.

Every venue using the feature can activate a dedicated telephone number answered by a conversational voice assistant. The assistant can access the venue’s live availability and take bookings during the call.

Telephone bookings enter the same system as online reservations, with the conversation transcribed and retained against the booking.

This means that any requirements mentioned during the call can be made available to the venue team in the same way as requirements captured through the online booking interface.

Venues can also choose the assistant’s voice and accent, while the system requires no additional hardware.

Patrick Clover, Founder and CEO of Stampede, said:

“Booking a restaurant should be straightforward for every guest, but historically the accessibility knowledge within teams hasn’t always been reflected within the booking journey itself.”

He said the update aims to reduce uncertainty by building accessibility requirements directly into the booking process, while ensuring that guests who prefer to telephone receive the same level of certainty.

The new features are available to all Stampede Booking customers as part of the platform’s August 2026 update.

Why this matters for hospitality businesses

For hospitality operators, accessibility is not simply about the physical layout of a venue. The booking process is also part of the customer experience.

By allowing requirements to be captured before a guest arrives, Stampede’s update aims to make that process more transparent for customers while giving staff better information to work with during service.

For smaller hospitality businesses in particular, where staff may be busy serving customers and unable to answer the telephone during peak periods, the combination of online accessibility information and AI-assisted telephone bookings could provide another way of making reservations easier to manage.

For more information visit www.stampede.ai