Accessible websites may be more likely to succeed - By: Brigette Federico

Accessibility means making a website easy to use for as many people as
possible, and this can only be a positive factor for SEO in the long
run. Since search robots rely upon text to extract information from
sites, what is visible to them resembles what is 'seen' by screen
reading software used by visually-impaired surfers of the Web. The aim
of search engine optimisation involves making web pages readable for
search robots, so that information may be extracted and used in search
results. Principles that improve accessibility in general tend to make
a website more crawlable for search spiders at the same time.

Correct HTML, with heading tags to establish structure and emphasis
within a page of text, and separate CSS files for styling, helps
search robots extract meaningful information and creates a better
experience for all visitors, with smaller page files which are quicker
to load. A clear system of navigation with logical, hierarchical flow
and descriptive link text makes life easier for users and helps search
robots find and index all the pages on a site.

Where images are concerned, it is good practice for accessibility
always to include some text within an 'alt', or alternative text,
attribute, describing what the picture contains. This is useful for
everyone should images fail to load for some reason. It is essential
for visually-impaired visitors, as their screen reading software can
then read out the information, giving a better sense of the page as a
whole, and it is extremely useful for search robots that have no other
way of determining what the image is apart from any clues contained in
the file name or surrounding text.

Progress is being made in the ways search crawlers are able to
evaluate images, and they may recognise the proportions of different
coloured pixels, giving an indication that, for example, there are
excessive amounts of flesh tone on certain sites, but they are a long
way from being able to see as humans do. It is not yet possible for
search robots to recognise words which are presented in the form of an
image, although that could be remedied in the near future. That is why
it is important to ensure all significant information on a website is
in the form of text.

Flash files and JavaScript are not readily understood by screen
readers or search robots, so any content which is vital for a website
to function should not be displayed this way. Search crawlers are
beginning to be able to extract some text information from Flash, but
this is far from being able to comprehend the files fully. A useful
way of simulating how web pages appear to search crawlers, or screen
readers, is to use a text-based browser such as Lynx. An experienced
SEO company will view sites this way to determine which parts of a
page are visible to search robots.

At SearchEngineOptimization.co.uk we can make sure your website is
fully accessible to search engines and visitors alike.

About the Author

The Article is written by searchengineoptimization.co.uk providing SEO and Search Engine Optimisation Services. Visit http://www.searchengineoptimization.co.uk for more information on searchengineoptimization.co.uk Products & Services ___________________________Copyright information This article is free for reproduction but must be reproduced in its entirety, including live links & this copyright statement must be included. Visit searchengineoptimization.co.uk for more services!

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