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SEO and Accessibility

28. February 2007
By creating an accessible website you automatically increase the possibilities of getting higher Search Engine Rankings!

Where is the business case for accessibility within SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)?

Accessibility on the web means making changes to a website so everyone, no matter what browser or computer they're using, disabled, visually impaired or not, can benefit of the same online experience like everyone else. Search Engine Optimisation can benefit from it in many ways.

How does web accessibility help Search Engine Optimisation (ranking) ?

The search engines use small scripts -so called crawlers- which 'run' through the internet and collect information in a similar way as a screen reader goes.

Conclusion:

If the screen reader can't read it, the search engine crawlers won't be able to see the information either...

But there is more...

There is another relationship between the accessibility and search engines. For people with disabilities it is very important that the search engine get them to a relevant page quickly; because mostly their impairments mean that it takes them longer to surf the net and so every unnecessary click or page read is time-wasting and frustrating.

We asked Anja Glauch, Managing Director, Tetridia Ltd.

Q: Do you think that making a website accessible is important and does it have a real business case?
A: Absolutely yes! It allows your website and therefore your business to increase its market share and the audience reach. It also shows that your company takes its social responsbility seriously.

Q: How can we test the accessibility and search engine friendlieness of a website?
A: There are many tools available and I would like to mention that is not enough to "just run a program"  and be done with it. It can be quite revealing to test your website with a screen reader - and listen carefully. Make sure your web site is using proper XHTML coding and  self explanatory descriptions for the images. Online tool for

• Accessibility Test: http://webxact.watchfire.com/
• Check your Google PageRank: http://www.checkpagerank.com/

Contact Anja on +44 (0)20 8144 6655 for more information how you can improve the Search Engine Ranking of your companies website.