best SEO practices

5 of the Best SEO Practices That Support ADA Compliance

Jonesen TeamIndustry Insights

Understanding and mastering the best SEO practices is a long and ever-changing road. With the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, now pushing steeper requirements onto websites, certain SEO practices are now more vital than ever.

Understanding where you need to stand in regards to ADA compliance and why isn’t cut and dry. Not only are there major legal implications for ignoring these shifts but it is an opportunity to widen your net on potential customers with more engaging website content.

Let’s look at 5 of the biggest SEO practices that can help you remain ADA compliant. These practices are more than a checklist and can help you improve your SEO material overall.

1. Image Alt Tags and Captions

Every image on every website has a tag and description attached to it. While this is often invisible to most visitors, blind users using a website reading device will only hear these tags and captions instead of seeing your picture.

By putting clear and simple to understand tags and captions for your images, you help those website readers give the user all the information they need.

2. Video Transcriptions

On the other side of the spectrum, ADA compliance requires you to include readable transcriptions for all your video or audio-only material. This lets deaf users read the information they need instead of hoping to get information from video context clues.

3. Accessible PDFs

Any form of item on your website presents itself on your website with little chance to interact with it. Providing accessible PDF documents for all of your vital information makes your entire website accessible both on and off your page.

PDFs work well with a number of transcription software. This allows any user a foundation to find and understand any information they need from various items like motion graphics and integrated visuals.

4. Title and Heading Tags

Any articles or content should have clear and open tags for each title and heading. This helps transcription programs to give all the relevant information before a user has to click on an article.

This also removes misleading titles, helping your customers navigate the website with more confidence. A simple scan of the titles and headings can help them find what they need, making your website more user friendly overall.

5. Outlined Site Map With Links

Large websites with a host of information, such as a blog or product catalog, can be easy to get lost in. To help remedy this and keep you ADA compliant, make sure you have a complete and outlined site map with readable links.

These links should come with simple labels that denote where they lead without any confusion. The site map overall should keep a clean layout and be in an easy place to find on the website, like at the bottom of every page or as a header.

Crafting the Best SEO Practices for ADA Compliance and Beyond

These are the best SEO practices to help you evolve your website for ADA compliance. Every one of these ideas improves the user experience, helping you to retain customers and rank higher in SEO algorithms.

From powerful web design to stronger security and performance, we here at Jonesen believe that your website is the key to your business success. Curious to see how we can help you push forward? Contact us today.