Why Web Accessibility is Important to SEO

Accessibility and SEO can go Hand in Hand

Make your website more appealing to all by using accessibility and SEO. Now to be completely clear, SEO and accessibility are two very different things but their values do overlap. Accessibility cares solely about the disabled user and SEO concentrates on user experience, but there are a few things that will do both for your site.

The reason I bring this up now is because of an earlier post called "5 reason why you should never use a flash intro" that talked a little about Flash and Accesibility. It got me thinking about how I haven't mentioned other aspects and the importance of site accessibility. Not only from a legal standpoint, but also from an ethical one, every site owner should think about how they can better the user experience for the disabled. But in doing so, you can also improve your SEO and it also creates a much better, well organized site.

How SEO and Accessibility Overlap

• The Familiar Flash- As I have said before, if your site is filled with flash and a description isn't present, a disabled person will not be able to know anything about it.
• Descriptive Alt Text- make sure your alt text describes what is in your images. Yes, you can implement certain keywords into the description but use ones that fit within the image or a search engine penalty will come your way. Do not stuff Keywords here! There would be nothing worse than having a page being read to a blind person which suddenly irrupts in a bunch of keywords being blurted out that have nothing to do with the context.
• Proper Hyperlinks- once again, if it doesn't match where the user ends up, then you will be in it deep. Use good keywords but keep them relevant.
• Sitemaps- loved by everyone, the disabled to the search engines. Make sure you have one.
• Proper Headings and Titles- It just makes for good navigation all around. Everyone scans nowadays and hardly reads anything. To get the right information read, make your heading and titles succinct and use good keywords.
• Text is Key- Use a lot of it. The more readable text you have, the more your site will be loved- Why do you think I write so many darned blogs that go on and on and on and on...(btw- sorry about that, just trying to make it better for SEO and the disabled).