Become a website professional with digital accessibility and SEO! (part 2/2)

In the first part of this blog post we have already shown some points, which connection exists between accessibility and SEO and which advantages can arise from it. In the second part, we would like to dive deeper into the matter. We will show you how you can optimize your website so that it not only scores with search engines, but also becomes accessible to all users, regardless of their abilities. Discover here some practical steps to make your website fit for the digital future.

1. Heading structure

Accessibility: Screen readers distinguish between HTML headings and normal paragraph text. A correct heading structure helps to understand the thematic structure of a web page.

Impact on SEO: A good heading structure is also important for search engine bots to understand your page. Your heading tags should include a logical breakdown of your main topic and detailed subsections of the page.

2. Navigation

Navigation can refer to different areas of your website, but most importantly, it can refer to the top navigation menu. To make your website accessible, your navigation menus must contain your main pages, include the appropriate ARIA attributes, and be accessible from the keyboard so that all users can access those pages. Buttons and site maps must also be accessible for proper navigation.

Impact on SEO: Your most important pages should be included in your top navigation menu to send the right SEO signals to search engines about the most important pages on your site. This not only improves the user experience, but also helps search engine bots find these pages more easily and ensures that they are crawled and cached frequently.

3. Transcripts and subtitles

Transcripts and captions are an essential part of video accessibility. Without subtitles and transcripts, deaf or hearing-impaired users will not have access to what is being said in your videos. This also applies to podcasts or other audio files on your website.

Impact on SEO: Search engines are not very good at crawling and understanding video and audio content. So when you provide transcripts for video and audio files, you give search engines text they can understand, which helps them understand your media. This can help your video and audio content rank better.

4. Anchor text

Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in an HTML link. When screen readers scan the page, they recognize the links in the code and read the anchor text to the user. The screen reader informs visitors that there is a link and reads the anchor text as a description of the link, so users know what to expect when they visit the new page.

Impact on SEO: Internal links and their anchor texts are essential for many aspects of search engine optimization. From the perspective of users (and search engine bots), anchor text is a strong signal of what the linked page is about and how it relates to the current page. Anchor text is a "quick win" to add context and relevance to a page without adding additional text to the linked page itself.

5. Breadcrumbs

"Breadcrumbs are the linked text at the top of a web page that shows the path and hierarchy of the page you are on. They make navigation easier for users with motor or visual disabilities by showing them where they are on the website and how to navigate back on the website.

Impact on SEO: Breadcrumbs provide the same benefits for search engine optimization as they do for website accessibility. However, there is an additional benefit for SEO, as breadcrumbs help search engines understand the structure of your site and allow you to include more internal links to connect pages throughout the site.

As we have shown, many aspects of search engine optimization and accessibility go hand in hand and have positive effects oneach other. When you align these two aspects of your website, you offer your users*innen a better experienceimprove your web presence, increase the number of visitors, and*visitorsand generate more revenue. Inclusion not only offers many benefits for aige fewbut for all people.