Importance of Web Accessibility and SEO

5Web accessibility, besides known arsenic integer accessibility, should spell hand-in-hand with hunt motor optimization (SEO). If you’re not definite why, it mightiness assistance to instrumentality a clang people successful the basics of web accessibility. After all, SEO is simply a reasonably communal word understood by plentifulness of radical extracurricular the industry. But not everyone knows what “web accessibility” refers to. We’re present to wide it up and marque the lawsuit for considering web accessibility successful your SEO efforts.

What Is Web Accessibility?

To specify web accessibility, we’ll look to the wide accepted planetary authorization connected accessible web content: the World Wide Web Consortium, oregon W3C. W3C created the Web Accessibility Initiative, oregon WAI, to plan guidelines for making the web much accessible to all.

According to WAI, web accessibility exists erstwhile “websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed truthful that radical with disabilities tin usage them.” Web contented is considered accessible erstwhile each radical – careless of disablement – tin perceive, understand, navigate, interact with and lend to the web.

What does this mean successful practice? Let’s look astatine the illustration of 1 of the astir communal disabilities: ocular impairments. People with ocular impairments often rely connected surface readers to pass indispensable ocular elements of a page. For a website to beryllium accessible to this person, the leafage would request to see alternative descriptive text that would beryllium “readable” to the surface reader. This is conscionable 1 of a immense fig of disabilities that tin interaction a user’s acquisition of web content.

To guarantee this level of accessibility, WAI publishes the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, oregon WCAG. These guidelines outline circumstantial criteria that web contented owners should travel to execute accessibility for all, and are wide accepted arsenic the planetary modular for web accessibility. WCAG has undergone respective revisions, each caller mentation expanding connected the last, and is present successful iteration 2.1 with a mentation 2.2 connected the way.

What Is SEO?

As you astir apt know, SEO stands for “search motor optimization.” Simply put, this means optimizing web contented successful bid to summation visibility successful hunt motor results.

SEO tin beryllium paid, meaning contented owners wage for ads to look connected hunt motor results pages (SERPs), oregon organic, meaning contented owners larn what users are searching for and constitute high-quality, highly applicable contented to reply those hunt needs with the hopes of ranking connected the archetypal page. Both approaches person the aforesaid goal: get contented successful beforehand of arsenic galore radical who request it arsenic possible.

Why SEOs Should Care About Web Accessibility

The goals of SEO and web accessibility are highly compatible. If SEO is each astir expanding the visibility of contented successful search, it should spell without saying that this contented should beryllium accessible. Optimizing inaccessible contented for SEO defeats the purpose, due to the fact that if it contains accessibility barriers, less radical tin really utilize and get worth from it.

If that’s not capable to person SEOs to attraction astir web accessibility, retrieve that web accessibility is simply a ineligible requirement. The astir broad accessibility instrumentality successful the U.S., the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), has consistently been interpreted to see websites and integer content. This has led to respective high-profile lawsuits of brands that had accessibility barriers connected their websites. Read astir a fewer examples below.

• Beyonce: In 2019, Beyonce’s website was sued successful a people enactment suit spurred by a unsighted pistillate who claimed she could not usage the website without the assistance of a sighted person. The circumstantial accessibility barriers cited included a deficiency of alternate substance for important images, a deficiency of accessible drop-down menus and navigation links, and an inability to usage a keyboard alternatively of a rodent to navigate the site, which creates barriers for those with definite carnal impairments.
• Domino’s Pizza: In a akin lawsuit besides successful 2019, Domino’s Pizza was sued implicit immoderate of the aforesaid accessibility barriers, namely the inability to usage the website with a surface reader. It’s important to enactment that this lawsuit besides included the Domino’s Pizza app. Accessibility laws use not lone to websites but besides to mobile apps and mobile versions of websites.
• Rite Aid: More recently, Rite Aid was sued implicit the inaccessibility of its COVID-19 vaccine registration portal. Again, incompatibility with surface readers and an inability to navigate the tract with a keyboard alternatively of a rodent were cited.

These are conscionable a fewer examples from a agelong database of lawsuits that besides includes Netflix, Nike, Blue Apron, Five Guys, Winn-Dixie, and more.

Note that the work of ensuring web accessibility mostly falls to web designers and developers. But determination are respective accessibility issues that autumn easy into the realm of SEO. Read astir immoderate communal examples below.

Accessibility Issues for SEOs

• Alt tags for images: As mentioned, 1 of the astir communal accessibility barriers cited successful ADA lawsuits is simply a deficiency of descriptive substance for images that are indispensable to recognize the web content. This is the substance that surface readers “read” aloud to users with ocular impairments. For SEOs, alt tags should beryllium a acquainted concept, arsenic they are a champion signifier for making web contented readable to hunt engines. Thus, SEOs are apt already experts connected this accessibility requirement.
• Transcripts for video and audio content: In a akin vein, video and audio contented should beryllium accompanied by alternate substance truthful that radical with ocular oregon proceeding impairments tin devour them. If your enactment publishes video contented specified arsenic informational videos oregon webinars, see transcripts. Again, this doubles arsenic an accessibility champion signifier and an SEO champion practice, since transcripts are readable to some surface readers and hunt engines. The aforesaid goes for audio contented specified arsenic podcast episodes.
• Color contrast: Color opposition typically falls wrong the domain of web designers. However, it’s not a atrocious thought for SEOs, particularly those who specialize successful contented marketing, to brushwood up connected minimum opposition requirements. Many radical with ocular impairments person debased opposition sensitivity, meaning they conflict to comprehend substance oregon images if they don’t person capable opposition with the inheritance color. If you’re successful the presumption of supporting your ain enactment oregon a lawsuit with a tract redesign, marque definite the substance and inheritance colors that volition beryllium utilized conscionable accessibility requirements for minimum contrast. Not lone does this assistance radical with ocular impairments, but it besides makes contented much readable erstwhile determination are alleged “situational disabilities,” specified arsenic utilizing a machine successful agleam earthy lighting.

Accessibility Takeaways for SEOs

By now, SEOs cognize that Google prioritizes the idiosyncratic acquisition supra all. This is wherefore galore judge that hunt engines whitethorn really favour much accessible content. Whether this is existent oregon not, it’s communal consciousness that accessible contented provides a amended idiosyncratic acquisition for all. That makes it amended successful SEO presumption – and that means accessibility matters successful SEO!