Web Accessibility And Its Importance in SEO

When the topic of website accessibility comes up, the only picture that comes to my mind is the one of a user regardless of their environment (poor internet connection, less sophisticated devices, different devices, etc) or existing condition like illness, injury, health condition can navigate your website with ease.

The success of your site, and in turn, your service, is dependent on how well you can achieve having visitors stroll your website seamlessly and in style. Let’s get more specific.

Web accessibility is among the most remarkable digital concerns nowadays, with influence on every business. Due to this fact, marketers are now putting in efforts to ensure that their websites offer equal opportunities for everyone, adapt to complex?Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and comply with global accessibility standards.

To understand this topic better and how you can implement it, this article is written to guide you through all you need to know about website accessibility.

What is Website Accessibility?

Website accessibility is about making a website and its content accessible to site visitors with limitations such as disabilities, impairments, and others.

And it’s important to develop accessible websites since, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2022 world report on disabilities, an estimated 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the global population experience a significant disability.

As a marketer, don’t even try to convince yourself that this doesn’t concern you; it does greatly affect you as a business owner.

If your website isn’t accessible, people with disabilities will have difficulty finding or using your products, and if they can’t do that? They will go elsewhere where they best meet their needs.

So the right thing to do as a business is to make your website accessible, as it also gives you access to an additional 20% of the market share.

How to Make Your Website Accessible?

#1. Ensure Your Website Allows Keyboard Navigation

One of the keystones of an accessible website is keyboard navigation. To be considered accessible, visitors must be able to navigate your website without a mouse.

This is because many assistive technologies rely on keyboard-only navigation.

Therefore, you should ensure that visitors can navigate and browse your site using only a keyboard. This includes accessing pages, clicking on links, and more.

#2. Provide Alt Text for Images That Describe

If you use images on your site, ensure to provide alternative text that describes the image. This way, visitors who are unable to see the image can understand the content of the page when utilizing assistive technologies such as dictation software.

#3. Select a Content Management System (CMS) That Supports Accessibility.

There are many content management systems (CMS) available to help you build your website. Common examples of CMS software include Drupal and WordPress, but there are many other alternatives available.

Once you have selected a CMS that suits your needs, ensure to choose a theme/template that is accessible.

Turn to the theme’s documentation for notes on accessibility and suggestions for creating accessible content and layouts for that theme. Ensure to follow the same guidelines when choosing modules, plugins, or widgets.

For elements like editing toolbars and video players, ensure that they support creating accessible content. For instance, editing toolbars should include alternatives for headings and accessible video players and tables should include closed captioning.

The CMS administration alternatives (such as creating a blog article or posting a comment) should be accessible as well.

#4. Leverage Heading Hierarchies to?Structure and Organize your Content

Breaking up your content into smaller segments can make it easier to read. That is why using headlines and lists to organize information on your pages can boost web accessibility.

Clear headings can enable screen readers to understand and interpret your pages. This also helps in-page navigation and also helps those using assistive technologies to browse the contents of your page.

WordPress recommends utilizing a set heading hierarchy, which includes using one H1 per page (commonly for the title) and H2s and H3s for sub-segments:

#5. Include Captions and Transcripts to Videos

If you add videos to your website, you will want to provide captions or transcripts so that visitors who are deaf or hard of hearing can still enjoy your content.

Closed captioning and text transcripts allow those using screen readers to consume your content without having to depend on the audio alone or visual imagery.

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