Accessible Websites and Their Overlap with SEO

Inclusion is one of the most important societal and business topics for companies in both 2022 and 2023. Accessibility has become indispensable in many aspects of daily life. Accessibility is often equated with being disability-friendly, which is unfortunately incorrect. Accessibility aims to allow all people to use products, leisure activities, and services without barriers. An accessible website is one of many important measures and tools on the path to this goal. By mid-2025, it will even become mandatory for many website operators. What digital accessibility means, the requirements it must fulfill, and the advantages an accessible website offers for search engine optimization can be read in this article.

What does accessibility mean for websites?

An accessible website is accessible to every user without technical or personal limitations. This includes people with visual impairments, hearing disabilities, as well as people with mobility impairments or concentration weaknesses, non-native speakers, or older people. It is also important to consider the different devices users may use. All webpages should aim to be used equally without restrictions.

What requirements must an accessible website meet?

The topic of accessible web design is very complex, so we can only provide an overview of the most important criteria here, which does not claim to be complete.

One of the most important requirements for accessible websites is legible fonts. In general, sans-serif fonts are more readable. Fonts made up solely of capital letters should be avoided, as they are not easily recognized by the eye. The font should not be displayed too small; however, it is particularly important that the font can be enlarged on the website. So-called decorative fonts should be used for decoration, not to convey important information.

The color scheme of the website has a significant impact on readability. High contrast between backgrounds and text, elements and background, button color and button text, etc., ensures that users with visual impairments can perceive content well. It's also important to consider color blindness, such as avoiding red text on a green background. Ensure sufficient contrast if text is overlaid on images. Busy images with text, for example, act as a barrier for users with concentration problems. In such cases, it helps to place the text against a solid background. High contrasts are also helpful for users accessing your website outdoors under direct sunlight.

Buttons must be large enough and clearly recognizable as such. Links should be placed with enough distance from one another. Also, check whether these buttons are identifiable by screen readers. In general, ensure that the entire website is operable via screen readers.

Images are only partially or not at all perceivable by visually impaired individuals, making alternative texts essential. This is particularly true for graphics used not just as decoration but as carriers of their own content, such as infographics or illustrative photos. Image descriptions must convey this content.

A simple language on the website significantly aids readability. Unless texts specifically address a professional audience, easily understandable language removes many barriers. Incidentally, it's also being discussed whether simple language might be the better choice for technical texts, questioning the necessity of numerous technical terms and foreign languages, as well as complex sentences.

All users benefit from a clear site structure — intuitive navigation and a clear document structure with the correct hierarchy. Headings with semantic markings separate paragraphs with headlines and create a hierarchically logical connection, which screen readers can recognize by the headlines.

Tables should be used strictly for tabular data, not for layout purposes. While this web design style is no longer the standard as of 2022, from experience, we know table formatting hasn't been completely phased out. Beyond accessibility concerns, this is not a good practice.

Format lists and numbered lists as HTML elements so screen readers can recognize them as ordered, unordered, or numbered lists. List elements should be used solely to present list content, not as design elements.

Take care when embedding multimedia content: Embedding content from other platforms presents accessibility challenges. Even though video content is increasingly being provided with automatic subtitles and/or transcripts by large platforms, you cannot be certain about the accessibility of this content. If embedding media is necessary, ensure that you summarize the important information from it in the text.

ARIA Labels: An Essential Tool for Accessibility on Websites and SEO

Besides the previously mentioned requirements, there are other aspects to consider when designing an accessible website. One such aspect is ARIA Labels. ARIA Labels (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) are a crucial part of accessible web design and contribute to improving the accessibility of web content. They are special HTML attributes that provide additional information about certain elements on a webpage and improve accessibility for people with disabilities.

These labels particularly help screen readers and other assistive technologies better interpret and navigate the website. For example, an ARIA label can add invisible text that explains a symbol or describes a menu that, without these additional details, would be incomprehensible for people with visual impairments.

ARIA Labels also contribute to SEO by helping search engines better understand the context and structure of a webpage. This leads to better indexing and potentially higher rankings in search results. However, it's important that ARIA Labels are used correctly. Excessive or incorrect use can cause confusion for users of assistive technologies and search engines. Therefore, the use of these labels should be carefully planned and tested.

What is the difference between accessible and barrier-reduced?

The term "accessible" is much more common, but sometimes you will also read about "barrier-reduced web design." The idea behind this is that achieving "accessibility" as an absolute state is challenging and always an approximation — reducing barriers is the goal, and the fewer barriers on the website, the better. We will use the term "accessibility" because this is the goal. Every step helps make the website more barrier-reduced. As the article continues, it will become clearer why the term "barrier-reduced" will no longer suffice from 2025 onwards. "Accessible" will become mandatory for affected websites over time. The sooner this process is undertaken, the better.

Why is an accessible website important?

The requirements for accessible access are increasing. Public tenders, for example, increasingly demand accessibility, and internationally operating companies must consider the legislation of other countries. As you will see in the laws section, accessibility is partially mandatory already or will become so in the coming years. However, there are other equally important reasons for an accessible website.

Accessible web design makes a website more user-friendly. All visitors benefit from accessible websites, which in turn positively affects customer satisfaction.

When you make your web presence accessible to everyone, you exclude no one. This can expand your target audience, but more importantly, you take practical steps to implement company values of inclusion and accessibility. In times when many customers critically question which values companies stand for, a clear stance and practical implementation send an important message. As many website operators pay less attention to the topic due to increased time demands, it is especially important now to address it. Engaging with accessibility makes clear statements and establishes a certain role model function.

What standards and laws apply to digital accessibility?

The globally recognized standard for internet accessibility is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), developed by a working group of the World Wide Web Consortium and regularly updated. The current standard is WCAG 2.2.

Besides technical foundations, there are various national and international regulations on accessibility. Here's an overview of some key ones:
In Germany, there's the Accessible Information Technology Ordinance (BITV 2.0), which refers to the European standard, EN 301 549.

Federal agencies are required by the Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities Act (BGG) to have accessible websites. The accessibility of websites from state and municipal public authorities is governed by state laws and specific regulations. In Berlin, for example, it's the Accessible-ICT Act Berlin - BIKTG Bln.

In the private sector, accessibility on the internet is also supposed to become mandatory. The Accessibility Strengthening Act (full name: Act to Implement the Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and Council on Accessibility Requirements for Products and Services (BFSG)) is based on the EU Directive on Accessibility Requirements for Products and Services. The BSFG lists industries that must provide accessible websites and apps by the end of June 2025, including foundations, colleges and universities, social insurance institutions, banks, and online retail.

Although the topic of accessibility is not yet mandatory for many websites, it's important to be prepared early. Additionally, an accessible website reflects forward-looking company values such as inclusion and accessibility.

Is accessibility a ranking factor?

It's no secret that Google has long emphasized the importance of a website's user-friendliness. There are various recommendations, tools, and hints from Google on what this specifically means. Good usability, especially on mobile devices, a design without noticeable layout shifts, and fast loading times are factors Google evaluates positively.

Is accessibility a direct ranking factor?

Not currently, but various measures that improve accessibility also contribute to better search engine optimization. We'll look at these specific measures in the next section.

How does accessibility help with search engine optimization?

You may have noticed from the requirements above how large the overlap between SEO and accessibility is. Both screen readers and search engines work text-based and rely on all information being available in text form. This point alone shows how accessibility can benefit search engine optimization. Specifically, these factors are crucial:

• Image optimization: Alternative texts and image descriptions help not only visually impaired people but also search engines to grasp the content of images, particularly for graphics that complement the page content and include their own information. The alternative text must convey the information in the image.

• A proper, logical semantic structure also aids search engine optimization. Headlines containing relevant terms and relating to the content of the following paragraph are partially "automatically" optimized for important keywords. Using commonly used and frequently searched terms helps with readability and understanding.

• Responsive web design has been standard for years and is recommended for SEO reasons for a long time. It also helps with accessibility by ensuring optimal display regardless of the device used.

• Descriptive link texts provide users and search engines with information about the linked page. Anchor texts like "here" or "read more" carry no information — and do not contain keywords that help the linked page rank better.

• The extent to which search engines can identify how understandable a website's language is remains to be seen. However, Google invests heavily in understanding texts semantically, recognizing content and language. It's also likely that Google can differentiate between very long complex sentences and shorter comprehensible ones. Better readability is an SEO criterion that helps accessibility.

• Specifying the language in the source code might be of limited necessity for search engines, but it helps screen readers select the appropriate pronunciation. From practice, we know of websites with incorrect language settings experiencing massive indexing issues, at least partially attributed to this.

• Transcripts for audio and video are another measure benefiting both users and search engines. This makes content readable to all — and thematically classifiable and findable in searches.

5 Tips for Implementing Digital Accessibility

1.     Give high priority to the topic

Even if accessibility seems like it only affects a small part of your target group, you should give it high importance. You might be affected by legislation requiring an accessible website from 2025. Additionally, accessibility offers you further advantages, such as better optimization for search engines. Anchoring inclusion as a company value and practically implementing it is another bonus.

2.     Consider accessibility from the start

Planning a website relaunch or launching a new online shop? Consider accessible web design from the start to save resources and budget. As with search engine optimization, the earlier you consider the requirements, the better. Making massive changes later generally requires more effort and cost.

3.     Separate layout and content

One of the most important rules in accessible web design is separating content from design. Modern CMS offer these prerequisites, but custom-programmed websites don't always. Pay attention to a clear separation when planning systems and templates.

4.     Follow current standards

Accessibility is continuously evolving, with new formats, standards, and criteria emerging. Stay updated or hire a web design and programming team that knows current standards.

5.     Train the editorial team

The website's framework and technical prerequisites are only one side of accessibility. Editorially, there's much that can be done right or wrong. Improve your editorial team as part of your content marketing and establish an internal company standard. For example, you can make alternative texts for images and correct use of lists mandatory. Implement recognizable colors with high contrast in the corporate design and simple language in corporate language.

Accessibility: Yes! But how to check?

Given all the measures regarding working towards an accessible website, the question arises: How can all this be checked? How can I ensure my measures were correctly implemented?

Google Lighthouse is an extremely useful open-source tool that helps web developers assess the performance, accessibility, and quality of their websites. It's particularly beneficial for accessibility evaluation.

Lighthouse reviews the accessibility of a webpage against established standards and provides a detailed report with specific recommendations for improvement. For instance, the tool can flag missing alt texts for images, which are important for visually impaired users, or missing ARIA attributes, which improve navigability for users with mobility impairments.

Furthermore, Lighthouse offers detailed documentation for each listed problem, making it easier for developers to understand the exact issue and take targeted steps to resolve it.

It's important to note that, while Lighthouse provides a comprehensive overview of many accessibility aspects, it isn't a substitute for manual reviews or user testing with individuals with disabilities. Certain accessibility issues, especially those requiring context or specific interactions, can't be captured by automated tests.

By integrating Google Lighthouse into the development process, accessibility issues can be detected and resolved early, leading to a better overall user experience for everyone.

Is Your Website Accessible, Responsive, and Optimized? We Can Help!

Do you want to update your website to current standards for accessibility and usability? Our SEO Relaunch Support not only considers points that increase your visibility and traffic. We also analyze your usability and can advise you on accessible website topics to implement your wishes and current standards. Contact us for a non-binding quote!

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