Accessibility removes obstacles to access for people with disabilities. It is the right thing to do. It is the law, under the Americans with Disabilities Act and state laws.
The rise in accessibility lawsuits is well documented. The liability of having an inaccessible website is real and costly. Making websites accessible now mitigates the risk of expensive legal action.
The connection between accessibility, SEO, and user experience
There is much more to the story. Accessibility benefits website owners with improved SEO. Website visitors also enjoy better user experience. Better user experience also improves SEO.
More Website Traffic
Removing barriers to access means your website reaches a wider audience.
26% of adults in the United States have some form of disability.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
People who are aging have many of the same concerns as people with disabilities. These include vision, hearing, motor coordination, and cognitive issues. Websites that are accessible to people with disabilities also help the aging population.
More website traffic leads to better ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). Better search engine ranking leads to more website traffic.
So, the more accessible you make your website, the more traffic your website gets.
Better User Experience
Accessibility improvements offer a better user experience to everyone.
Keyboard navigation allows people with certain motor disabilities to use websites. This also helps people with temporary disabilities, like broken arms. Power users can also enjoy keyboard navigation, preferred for its speed.
Well-structured websites, navigation, and content improve accessibility. This allows people with cognitive disabilities to scan, read, and understand your content. This also helps everyone better engage with your website.
While accessibility improves user experience, better user experience improves SEO.
Faster Website Performance
Improving web performance serves both accessibility and SEO goals.
A slow website will read out the loading progress to users of screen readers for as long as the page takes to load. It can delay interactivity for people who navigate the Web with a keyboard. A Slow-loading website results in increased bounce rates and lower search engine ranking.
A faster website improves accessibility issues, user experience, and search engine ranking.
Better Accessibility, Better SEO
Optimizing your site for search engines is a complex process. Accessibility and performance make the best user experience for your website’s visitors.
Better accessibility translates to:
- Better search engine ranking
- More website traffic
- Longer visitor time
- More pages per session
- Lower bounce rate
Improve your accessibility and SEO now
Get a free copy of our guide, “Boost Your Site’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO).” We give you key steps to improving your website’s accessibility and SEO at the same time. Steps you can start taking today.
Get “Boost Your Site’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO).”