How & Why Accessibility Matters for SEO

SEO pros play a crucial role in the overlap between SEO and accessibility. Here’s how we can make a positive impact on accessibility through our work.

Ensuring websites are accessible and usable for everyone should be a primary concern for anyone who works within the online space.

While accessibility is more often seen as the responsibility of developers and designers, there is a lot of overlap in the SEO work we do to make websites accessible and easy for search engines to understand.

However, it isn’t something which is commonly spoken about within SEO, and not typically something that is included in the “need to know” of SEO.

So, I took to Twitter to ask the community if website accessibility is something they consider when working on a site’s SEO.

Hey SEO friends, a quick q, is website accessibility something you consider when working on a sites SEO?

— Ruth⁷ (@rvtheverett) August 10, 2020

I was pleasantly surprised with the results, with over 58% of those who voted saying accessibility is something they always consider, and only 13% saying they generally don’t.

What Is Web Accessibility?

In short, website accessibility is the act of making sure websites are accessible and usable for everyone.

It ensures all users are able to perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with a website and encompasses all disabilities which may affect how a user experiences your website.

This includes auditory, cognitive, physical, neurological, and visual.

Accessibility also benefits users with temporary impairments, which may include – a user with a broken arm, or someone recovering from surgery.

It also includes:

• Situational impairments, such as:
  • People on moving trains.
  • People with limited internet connection.
• Environmental impairments, for example:
  • Being in a brightly lit room.
  • Not being able to play audio aloud.

Why Is Accessibility Important?

Ensuring the websites we work on are accessible for everyone should be a primary concern for everyone in SEO, as well as the designers and developers we work with.

Read more: searchenginejournal