Optimizing Website Visibility & Inclusivity: SEO & Accessibility
Marketer's Handbook: Navigating Digital Accessibility
Unlocking SEO Potential: The Impact of Website Accessibility
Globally, 15% of individuals, totaling 1 billion people, live with disabilities, while in the UK alone, 7 million people require digital accessibility support due to their disabilities. Accessible websites play a crucial role in enabling individuals with disabilities to navigate and engage with digital content, enhancing their user experience and fostering inclusivity within your brand's online presence. The significance of web accessibility extends beyond individual experiences, greatly influencing businesses and brands alike.
Enhancing web accessibility not only ensures inclusivity but also enhances SEO performance. Features that improve accessibility often align with factors that influence search visibility, maximizing your website's discoverability. Google Lighthouse, a tool for enhancing web page quality, evaluates various metrics including accessibility, performance, best practices, and SEO. The inclusion of accessibility in Google's assessment underscores its significance in online visibility. The latest benchmark for accessible websites is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, highlighting the ongoing commitment to improving digital inclusivity and user experience.
This page delves into the advantages of accessibility for WCAG compliance, SEO optimization, user experience, and beyond. Collaboratively crafted with Claire Brotherton, Founder of A Bright Clear Web.
What role do descriptive page titles play in enhancing accessibility?
Digital accessibility standards mandate descriptive page titles, as outlined in Success Criterion 2.4.2 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. This ensures that users can grasp a page's purpose without needing to delve into its content.Effective page titles aid users managing multiple tabs, enabling swift identification and selection of the desired tab.
Page titles are particularly valuable for individuals with disabilities. For instance, when a screen reader user navigates to a webpage, they rely on the page title being accurately read aloud. Thus, it's crucial that page titles are concise and precise, instilling confidence that they've landed on the intended page. While a common format for page titles includes the article name followed by the website name, it's essential to avoid excessive length. Brief and clear page titles significantly enhance the user experience, especially for screen reader users who depend on auditory content. This streamlined approach facilitates quicker scanning of open tabs and web pages.
In alignment with SEO best practices, Google's guidelines emphasize the importance of clear and descriptive page titles.
Steer clear of ambiguous labels such as "Home" for your homepage or "Profile" for an individual's profile.
Furthermore, refrain from overly lengthy titles, as they may be truncated in search results. To prevent this, aim for a maximum of 60 characters. Utilize pertinent keywords in your tags to ensure search engines comprehend your webpage content. However, exercise caution to avoid excessive keyword usage.
The Role of Headings in Enhancing Accessibility
Using headings significantly improves content accessibility by allowing online visitors to quickly scan and locate relevant sections. This enhances the user experience by making navigation more efficient. Proper use of headings also aligns with the requirements for accessible websites, specifically Success Criterion 1.3.1 of the WCAG. Headings benefit all users by enhancing readability and organization, but they are especially valuable for screen reader users. Screen readers can navigate pages by headings, enabling users to jump directly to the content they need without having to listen to the entire page.
There are six levels of headings, from Heading 1 to Heading 6, which should be used in a hierarchical order. For example:
Main heading
Section heading
Subsection heading
Sub-subsection heading
Skipping any heading levels can confuse screen reader users, making them think they have missed some content. Properly ordered headings ensure a logical structure and improve accessibility for everyone.
The Benefits of Headings for SEO
In most cases, accessibility and SEO do go hand-in-hand. However, there’s some debate about whether headings on a page play a part. According to a Moz study, search engines don’t seem to be too particular about headings. Either the type or the number of them. Nevertheless, we recommend putting the benefits of accessibility first. It’s better for the user experience, and helps the greatest number of people to navigate your content easily. Improve content accessibility by using a Heading 1 as the first heading on a page. Followed by the suggested heading hierarchy above for the rest of your page conten
The Benefits of Using Headings for SEO
As you're aware, a list can take the form of a bullet-point list or a numbered listicle. However, what might not be immediately apparent is the importance of properly marking up lists for accessibility benefits. List markups serve to define a group of related items, a practice often employed by web developers in navigation menus. This technique aids in structuring web pages, benefiting both web accessibility and SEO efforts.
The Role of Lists in Enhancing Accessibility
Sighted users naturally recognize the association between bulleted or numbered list items. However, proper list markup provides additional clarity for screen reader users. They are informed that a list is present and provided with the total number of items within that list. Correctly marking up lists involves using the appropriate HTML tags to define the content. For instance, for unordered lists, for ordered lists, and for definition lists.
Leveraging Lists for SEO Benefits
As you're likely aware, search engines deliver organic results through various formats. As marketers, our goal is not only to secure a position on the first page of search results but also to attain coveted features like the featured snippet. Properly marking up lists informs search engines like Google about the presence of a list within your content. Search engines recognize the value of lists for certain queries, thus giving your content additional weight in relevant search results. For instance, consider the following scenario: Our blog received recognition from Google with a featured list snippet when users search for 'free online reading resources'. Once again, we witness the intertwined benefits of accessibility and SEO.
Enhancing Accessibility and SEO with Descriptive Links
Interlinking content forms a crucial aspect of our customer journey. Employing descriptive text within your links to direct users to new pages not only enhances user experience but also fosters web accessibility and boosts SEO efforts.
The Accessibility Benefits of Descriptive Links
Enhancing Accessibility with Descriptive Links Descriptive links play a crucial role in accessibility by providing users with clear understanding of a link's purpose before they navigate to it. Generic phrases like "click here" or "read more" lack context and can be confusing, particularly for screen reader users who may need to browse through all links on a page to find their desired destination. Using descriptive text helps these users locate relevant content more efficiently. Moreover, employing descriptive links aligns with web accessibility standards such as WCAG's Success Criterion 2.4.4: Link Purpose (In Context) and Success Criterion 2.4.9: Link Purpose (Link Only). According to user research by the Nielsen Norman Group, it's advisable to prioritize linking important words first, as many users tend to focus on the initial words of a link.
Leveraging Descriptive Links for SEO Success
Enhancing SEO with Descriptive Links Employing descriptive links offers benefits beyond accessibility; it also supports SEO efforts. Well-crafted link text, often referred to as anchor text in SEO circles, aids search engines in comprehending the content and context of a website. According to SEO specialists at Moz, effective link text should be concise and directly relevant to the linked page. Links lacking description may not pass Google Lighthouse's SEO audit. Avoiding generic link text is crucial for SEO success. For guidance on crafting accessible hyperlinks, refer to our resource, 'Creating Accessible Content'.