There is an array of components that are fundamental to the success of a website – a good backlink profile, good quality content and technical stability are the ones that spring to mind with most. However, the US accessibility legislation determines that there is another aspect that is paramount – that of accessibility.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, alongside the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) has ensured that discrimination of websites, in terms of their accessibility, is not tolerated. A website must be clearly accessible to all, regardless of any physical or mental challenges – something which a website accessibility checker can help in determining the extent of accessibility conformance levels.
Furthermore, website accessibility isn’t only something that is paramount on a site in terms of ADA and Section 508 conformance, but it also has significant SEO connotations too. If a website isn’t built in a way that adheres to a number of core accessibility features, then not only could a human being fail to understand or read it correctly, but a search engine could struggle too. Putting this into a real-life example, some of the fundamentals of accessibility include:
- Images containing all relevant alt attributes
- Meta titles and descriptions being optimised and providing a clear and concise description of what that page is about
- Form control labels containing control text
- Web pages including relevant language coding, or indeed the Href=lang tag where appropriate.
Of course, these aspects are fundamental in helping those with impairments to access a website, but furthermore – they’re the basics of SEO too. Without the correct coding, Google’s robots will be unable to fully understand the true nuances of a site, and what it is about. You can have the best content in the world, a backlink profile like no other, but if Google cannot successfully crawl the site, then its chances of ranking well for its target terms are somewhat slim.
Furthermore, the impact on user experience is key too. Google state unequivocally that a user should be able to find what they’re looking for quickly, easily, and efficiently on a site. And that applies to a search engine crawler too – Google’s robot should be able to find the content easily, index it, and rank it appropriately based on its fit with the search query. If a site’s navigation is complicated, both the user and search engine will struggle.
Both Nike and Dominos have fallen foul of the law when it comes to accessibility – two of the largest and most popular sites on the web. The precedent has been set and is one that is fundamental to SEO success.
