WCAG Accessibility and SEO

WCAG Compliance and SEO – Do Both Now to Benefit Later

There is a standard that is almost ignored by the small site and blogging community; Web Accessibility. Having a site deemed Accessible means it follows WCAG standards and allows those with disabilities to utilize websites and services. The WCAG 2.1 standard was developed by an international body that has established most Internet conventions called the World Wide Web Consortium, W3C. The interesting twist is that WCAG and SEO conventions and standards are intertwined in many key areas. Thus blogs and small website owners can be compliant and benefit from having both WCAG Compliance and SEO.

As a small website owner and author, I’ve become quite aware of the industry push for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Unfortunately, there seems to be an entire self-feeding (and aggrandizing) Internet gig economy striving for the holy grail of the perfect SEO score to drive more eyeballs to their sites for ad impressions and sales.


What are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines?

Introduction to Web Accessibility and W3C Standards

The Web Accessibility and SEO Overlap

SEO and WCAG Overlap

Using proper alternative “alt” text for images

It goes without saying that this is the #1 item that can have a huge positive impact on your WCAG compliance and SEO. By including descriptive Alt descriptions for each image, you can satisfy both requirements. It can also assist in searching images, and social media sites like Pinterest bring in Alt tag descriptions.

Provide clear and proper headings and use the right order

Proper use and order of the H2 and H3 heading tags break up long text and encourage readers to continue being engaged with the site. For screen readers, it gives users a glimpse of what is next in the article or post. The headings also serve to give indications to search engines of keyword phrases.

Like descriptive headers, a descriptive URL link is equally helpful. It serves a dual purpose by helping logical backlink development and offers readers a strong descriptive indicator of the URL content that they will be jumping to.

Ensuring page titles are descriptive, yet succinct

Well-crafted page titles are critical to users with visual difficulties using screen readers because the titles are literally the element read by screen-reading software. Search engines use page titles in the search result snippet for the site. Therefore it’s critical to use well-defined page titles.

Providing transcripts and captions for video

Captions are required to be considered WCAG compliant for accessibility. However, they also increase the reach and usability for users who:

  • Are learning another language or those whose native language is not the same as the audio.
  • Have cognitive impairments or learning disabilities
  • Utilize the Internet in quiet environments where a sound is unacceptable
  • Located in noisy environments where audio unable to be heard or understood
  • Do not have a speaker or headphones available
  • Depend on information contained in the transcript or metadata of a video

Identifying the language of pages and page content

Always use a language attribute on the HTML tag to indicate the default language of the text on the page. When the page contains content in another language, add a language attribute to that web part enclosing that content.

Allowing multiple ways of finding content

Methods include offering site search, a site map, table of contents, navigation headers or subject landing pages, etc.)

Using text instead of images when possible

From the w3C, they advise, “With the current CSS capabilities in most web browsers, it is good design practice to use actual text that is styled with CSS rather than image-based text presentation. In addition, the genuine text is much more flexible than images: It can be resized without losing clarity, and background and text colors can be modified to suit the reading preferences of users.”

Ensuring URLs are human-readable and logical – Avoid long numeric or abbreviated strings in the URL stubs. Try to utilize keywords or phrases to ensure WCAG compliance and SEO


Increased use of Video

Increased Use Of Video WCAG

According to Cisco’s visual networking index report, IP video traffic will be 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2020, driving more demand for SEO-friendly, accessible content through professional (not auto-generated) closed captions and transcripts. The trend is clearly steering toward video combined with textual subtitles planned as part of the video production.

More Time Spent with Video Content

High-quality closed captions and transcripts improve watch time. According to a recent digiday.com study, 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound. Conclusion – this trend creates opportunities to improve a brand’s rankings with relevant and contextual content supporting WCAG & ADA compliance and Google’s expectations.


Tools Available for a Quick Compliance Check

WCAG Tools

There are several tools site owners can use to check WCAG compliance. Many of these WCAG compliance checkers are online and free. For example, Google’s Lighthouse now powers the audits panel of chrome development tools. To run a report to indicate WCAG compliance:

  • Open Google Chrome for desktop.
  • Go to the URL you want to audit. You can audit any URL on the web.
  • Open Chrome dev tools.
  • Click the audits tab. Select accessibility

Scores approaching above the high 80s are considered approaching true compliance. Only professional auditors can offer WCAG 2.x certification of a site using automated tools and manual review.

Other Help with WCAG Guidelines

WCAG compliance is a tough area for many small businesses with websites. You have to think about three major areas for making a website accessible for the disabled; visual, auditory, and physical disabilities.

Fortunately, there is a website that covers these three areas and more. See Website Accessibility Made Easy: Your 2021 Ultimate Guide. Mark Holden does a good job of addressing each of the common disabilities that need to be considered by website accessibility planners.


What’s Next for SEO and WCAG

SEO

“It’s becoming clear that major search engines, such as Google, are promoting the Search Engine Optimization benefits of web accessibility techniques.” – Lisa McMichael

Senior User Researcher – Perficient digital

Search engines will likely make accessibility a ranking factor for websites within the next 12 to 24 months. Thus WCAG compliance and SEO will likely be linked together as a ranking factor.

Google just released the first iteration of its voice-search guidelines. It is predicted that voice search will soon be a component of search engine optimization (SEO). Comscore, an American media measurement and analytics company, predicted 50% of all searches would be by voice in 2020. Gartner predicts 30% of web browsing will be done by voice the same year.

Conclusion On Accessibility And SEO

Clearly, if small sites and blogs are going to invest in SEO, they might as well take the extra couple of steps and endeavor to check off WCAG accessibility requirements. Not only does it potentially expands the reach and capability of your site, but search engines look to reward those who do so.


Web Accessibility Banner

Get Up to Speed on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines – There has been a slow boil effort making websites accessible for the disabled. For several years, websites outside of government were thought of as “nice to have,” especially for eCommerce, transportation, insurance, and banking. However, current and potential customers with disabilities may need an accommodation to access important site content.

Wheelchair for Accessibility

Website Accessibility Advances at Thumbwind – Web accessibility is the inclusive practice of ensuring no barriers prevent interaction and access to Internet websites by people with disabilities. When sites are correctly designed, developed, and edited. Generally, all users have equal access to information and functionality. Evidence of a site being accessible is adherence to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

WCAG Tools and Testing

3 Accessibility Testing Tools Small Websites Should Be Using – Web Accessibility testing tools are currently hot for business and eCommerce sites. If you’re selling a product or service, no matter how small, your website should be set up to accommodate potential customers who have special needs or disabilities. This set of users may require screen readers and special navigation WCAG tools to access and browse your website to improve your WCAG 2.1 checklist.

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About ThumbWind – Since 2009, Thumbwind Publications’ goal is to explore and find fun all around Michigan, focusing on the Upper Thumb. From Caseville’s famous Cheeseburger Festival, sailing on Saginaw Bay, discovering the art studios in Port Austin, kayaking to Turnip Rock, antiquing in Sebewaing, discovering fresh farm-to-table foods, and marveling at expansive wind farms.


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Michael Hardy

Michael Hardy is the owner of Thumbwind Publications LLC. Michael was born in Michigan and grew up near Caseville. In 2009 he started this fun-loving site covering Michigan's Upper Thumb. Since then, he has authored a vast range of content and established a loyal base of 60,000 visitors per month.

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