On-Page SEO & and Accessible ADA Friendly Website
Written By: ShaneWebGuy on September 14, 2020
Building a website with a comparable level of access to those with disabilities is not just ethically right; it is a legal requirement. I have been advising digital marketing & web development companies for the past couple of years on ADA strategies. As I start my initial evaluation on a web site, I have found that the attention to best on-page SEO practices can make a big difference in how much work is needed to achieve a basic accessibility level.
The Relationship between On-Page SEO & Accessibility
Best accessibility & on-page local seo pricing tips go hand-in-hand. A well-optimized website for SEO will naturally be structured to allow screen readers such as JAWS to render textual content to audio. On the “flip-side,” a website that has been optimized for accessibility will have to be easier to read for the search engines. A website optimized for accessibility can lead to pages with a higher organic ranking.
Web Accessibility Advantages:
1. Ease of Navigation
When people have good user experience on your site, you are putting people first, above all else. Therefore, the main objectives of good web design and accessibility are the same. When the text is legible, you allow users with visual impairments to read the content correctly. When the site’s navigation is straightforward, individuals with cognitive impairments can cycle through the menus with their keyboards easily. If your site loads quickly, you are not sacrificing users without access to high-speed Wi-Fi connections.
2. Title Tags
The correct use of title tags allows users dependent on screen readers to understand what a page is about quickly. People who are visually impaired or lack sight need to contend with multiple pages without the benefit of visual navigation. Screen readers require proper title tags to inform users of what page they are looking at. This spells the difference between hearing “Portable Water Filters” and “The cleanest and best-tasting filtered water.”
3. Header Hierarchy
Header hierarchy, or the proper use of header tags, can improve the way people with cognitive or visual impairments evaluate whether a section is worth reading or not. Users who rely on screen readers require proper header structure to have a possible experience while surfing a site.
4. Alt Text
In addition to title tags and header tags, alt text is the third essential component of accessible Web design. Alt-text is used to provide an alternative experience for non-textual content on a page. Alt-text is usually used to describe and provide context for images, as these are not accessible to users with visual impairments. All alt text on a page needs to be as accurate as possible. For example, if there is an image of a dog, the user needs to hear something like “brown dog on a cart” instead of “Shop Discount Dog Goodies This Month.” Alt-text isn’t just part of the storytelling on the page; it is also part of your site’s navigability.
5. Href Tags
Do href tags affect UX for users with visual or cognitive impairments? Yes, they do. Web users who use screen readers often ‘surf links’ by using the tab key to skip over to links across content. This means any link that you provide through the href HTML tag should be as accurate as possible. The description of the link should match the content when the user makes a jump.
6. Video Transcripts
Provide a transcript for your videos, too. Many search engines aren’t listening (yet) to what is being said on videos. Providing a transcript makes it easier for search engines to index the content of videos and surface the same in search results.
SEO Advantages:
1. User Experience
Google has long prioritized ranking sites with better accessibility. Sites with poor UX (user experience) will take a hit. Google has been explicit with its criteria for quality content, too. While UX is not the only ranking signal that Google computes to determine the SERP of sites, it has a significant impact on other vital signals like dwell time and bounce rate.
2. User Intent
Adding the proper title tags can help search engines understand user intent. A page that ranks well but has improper title tags can still be beaten by competition that has made sure that every page has correct title tags. This means that writing the right title for each of your site pages is beneficial to all concerned, especially the users.
3. Proper Header Structure
In addition to helping match the user intent, having proper header structure also improves the overall organization of content and helps your site land vital snippets on Google search results. Google often features content with H2 tags.
4. Better Indexing With Appropriate Image Alt Text
Google and other search engines use textual cues like alt text in tandem with image algorithms to understand what images are on sites. Since machine learning is still continually improving, you can boost your page SEO by adding appropriate alt text so that Google and other search engines can index your site better. If you want images on your website to appear on Google Images results, you better start adding the appropriate alt text to all the images you use (including stock photos and actual photography).
5. Page Context
Google pays attention to text links to understand the content of a page better. For Google and other search engines, page context is everything. It helps search engines bring better results to users because no one likes opening pages with nothing to do with specific queries. The more useful the content provided in search results, the happier the users. The href tags have to be accurate and have to lead to high-quality pages or high-quality content relevant to the user on the page and potential users looking through search results on Google.
6. Indexing Video Content With Transcripts
Video transcripts benefit a wide range of users. In addition to people with hearing impairments, people can also access video content more quickly.
Summary:
Accessibility and SEO go hand in hand – the goals are always the same. The better the accessibility, the better the UX and page experience. Call me if you want your site to enjoy all the advantages of better accessibility today.
