5 accessibility fixes that quietly help your SEO

A blind person using a screen reader and Google's crawler have a lot in common. Neither can see your page. Both work out what's on it by reading the code underneath. So when you make a site easier for one, you almost always make it easier for the other.

That's the quiet upside of accessibility work nobody tells you about. Here are five fixes that pay off twice, none of which need a developer.

1. Write proper alt text

Alt text is the short description attached to an image. A screen reader reads it out loud. If the image won't load, it shows in its place. And Google uses it to figure out what the picture is, which is how your photos can turn up in image search.

<img src="bag.jpg" alt="Tan leather satchel with brass buckles">

Just say what's in the picture. Skip "image of," because everyone already knows it's an image. If a graphic is purely decorative, give it an empty alt="" so screen readers skip past it instead of announcing a filename.

2. Keep your headings in order

Headings aren't just big text. They're an outline. Screen-reader users hop between them to find their way around a page, the same way you'd skim the bold bits of an article. Google reads them to work out what your page is about.

• One <h1> per page, for the main title.
• Then <h2> and <h3> for sections, in order, without leaping from an <h2> straight to an <h4>.
• Never pick a heading tag because you like how big it looks. That's what CSS is for.

3. Stop writing "click here"

Picture a screen-reader user pulling up every link on your page as a list. If half of them just say "click here" and "read more," that list is useless. The same goes for Google, which reads link text as a clue about where the link goes.

Weak: To see our prices, click here.

Better: Have a look at our pricing and plans.

The second version makes sense on its own, which is the whole test.

4. Label your form fields

Every input needs a real <label> tied to it. And no, placeholder text doesn't count. It disappears the moment someone starts typing, and plenty of screen readers ignore it entirely.

<label for="email">Email address</label>
<input id="email" type="email" name="email">

Well-labelled forms are easier for everyone to fill in, and forms are usually where you actually win the customer. Worth getting right.

5. Turn up your contrast

That pale grey text on a white background might look elegant on your big bright monitor. Now try reading it on a phone, outside, at noon. The guideline most people follow (WCAG AA) asks for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 for body text.

Contrast isn't a ranking factor on its own. But if people can't comfortably read your page, they leave fast, and Google does notice when visitors bounce straight back to the search results.