Web accessibility is one of the many factors that influence the positioning of your website. It also plays a key role in facilitating the easy browsing of website visitors, hence its importance. Do you want to know what factors affect accessibility in order to improve it? We’ll tell you about some of the most important ones below.
Web accessibility: how to improve it
The idea of accessibility is for a website to be easy to read and visit for everyone, regardless of their level of computer literacy or use. Therefore, a well-designed website should be easy to read for both a digital native and a 70-year-old. Achieving this will depend on a number of factors that are not always sufficiently addressed.
Furthermore, good accessibility guarantees better positioning of your website. Keep in mind that the more convenient your virtual space is for users, the more time they will spend in it. In the long run, this translates into a higher volume of traffic, as search engines will value it positively. If you want to achieve this important improvement, take note of the factors to be addressed:
- A color range that is pleasing to the eye. It is best to use light colors for the background and dark colors for the text. This is the most comfortable combination for the human eye, making it possible for users to visit and read your page without causing stress or eyestrain.
- An alternative text for the image. Sometimes, internet connection can fail. For moments like this, it is a good idea to have a descriptive text ready to explain the images you have uploaded. It is also a good way for those who, for whatever reason, do not know how to interpret the image well, enabling them to do so through this text. This will improve your online positioning, given that alternative text is valued extremely positively by search engines.
- Use a consistent header. When designing the different texts, you will have to segment them into sections, use bold letters, lists and subtitles in an aesthetic and meaningful way. This will facilitate the reading of your website and help visitors find the information they are looking for with ease.
- Do not add too many intrusive elements. Pop-ups are a very useful marketing resource, but they can also be annoying. Generally, users hate them, and always try to close them. They must be easy to reject, and the “x” button should be clearly visible. This way, users with less experience in the online environment will be able to close them easily.
- Ensure that your website can be visited with just the keyboard. One of the biggest secrets of accessibility, which is not always respected, is that the keyboard can also act as a mouse within the website itself. Bear in mind that many users browse the Internet using just the keyboard. Therefore, prepare your website for them through simple and convenient commands that they can use without any hassles.
The language: a key point
Accessibility is not just about technical conditions, it also refers to the ability to understand the website itself, and the language used on it. Therefore, an excellent way to improve this feature of your website is to offer texts in several different languages. This way, whoever tries to visit your website will be able to do so, since more languages will be available to access it and understand what it says. Obviously, you can’t translate your website into all languages; the important thing is to localize it into those that, strategically, can attract the most traffic.
For example, English is absolutely necessary. Likewise, if you plan to expand your business to certain countries or regions, find out which languages are the most common and the most spoken there, in order to include a translation on your website.
It is important to point out a key aspect: it is not about creating websites parallel to the one you already have. In other words, if you create the same website in English in a separate domain, you will have the extra challenge of having to position it from scratch. It would be like having several identical websites lost in the internet jungle. The best thing to do is to gather everything together in a single website, offering visitors the possibility of reading everything in different languages.
In short, web accessibility is something you have to work on to improve your website. By following these tips, you can start to notice significant changes in the traffic arriving to your website. Start translating it to get it ready for all audiences! We offer you our translation services!
This post is also available in: Español (Spanish) Français (French) Nederlands (Dutch) Deutsch (German)
