Accessibility is an often overlooked aspect of SEO and the user experience. Accessibility refers to the usability of a site for those with any impairments or disabilities. It's all about inclusivity and ensuring your site is usable for as many people as possible.
What is Accessibility?
Web Accessibility is noting, designing, and making useable the things that allow those with disabilities to fully and wholly access the web. It is often really small tweaks or improvements that can make a world of difference to those who are unable to see or hear, or many other reasons.
First of all, it's important that you take a note of these needs when designing your site, as it is much easier to include accessible design concepts from the start. If this is something that you want to retrospectively include, you can have an accessibility audit included in most UX reports.
Google Search Console will alert you if you have some prominent accessibility issues: such as clickable elements too close together, fonts too small or errors that stop users accessing your site easily. This can impact your SEO, so it is definitely worth keeping in mind.
Examples of Accessibility Issues and Resolutions
Some common accessibility issues are listed below, alongside some simple fixes:
Contrasting Colours
Using colours that aren't contrasting enough can cause serious issues for those with sight impairments or contrast sight issues. Choose colours that provide easy contrast and avoid colours that blend into each other for those who are colourblind.
Captions on Videos
Closed captioning on videos is essential for those who cannot hear, or those who need to watch videos without sound (for a number of reasons). YouTube provides automatic captioning, but it is always good practice to add captions to your videos if embedded or used on other social media.
Voice Recognition
Did you know that interactive areas of your site can cause issues with voice recognition software? Be sure to double check your shop and cart process, forms or comments sections to be voice recognition friendly. This includes simplifying forms and ensuring that there are no difficult steps involved in the process.
Screen Readers
For those with blindness or sight issues, screen readers are an integral part of how they navigate the web. It is not just text on your site that can be read by screen readers, it is the alt-text and captions of your photos too. Always ensure your alt-text describes the photos simply and effectively, and that you don't use these areas to cram in keywords or irrelevant information.
These are just some of the accessibility issues that need to be addressed when you decide to have a website built for you. Learn more about accessibility in this video:
https://youtu.be/z8xUCzToff8
Contact eCommWeb today to discuss accessibility and how we can ensure your website ticks all the boxes of accessibility and user experience!
