Why Digital Accessibility Matters for SEO and PPC: A Practical Guide for Marketers

It is an unfortunate everyday reality that many disabled people are blocked from fully accessing websites. This is often because many websites are not built explicitly with accessibility in mind, leading to simple features having a negative impact on how users navigate websites. For example, screen reader users hitting an unlabelled checkout button or a keyboard user being stuck on a pop-up.

Website builds are a complex process that involve multiple teams, tight deadlines and often pre-set budgets, which can mean that accessibility standards beyond the ‘norm’ are often sadly forgotten.

This is something that needs to change. Accessibility for all should be the recommended standard for all websites, because of course, why wouldn’t you want an inclusive site that works for everyone?

Inclusivity is not the only benefit of digital accessibility. Many of the key features and best practices towards accessible access also improve how search engines can crawl, index and rank your website. 

In this guide, we will highlight how you can ensure access for everyone, by understanding what digital accessibility is, how it links to SEO and PPC, as well as the on-page and technical elements that have the biggest impact on accessibility.

What is digital accessibility?

Digital accessibility means ensuring that websites and technologies are designed so that users with any disability can navigate, use and interact with them fully. 

This includes:

• Users with visual disabilities that require screen readers 
• Users with physical disabilities that use keyboard interactions instead of a mouse
• Users with auditory disabilities that may require captions on videos
• Users with cognitive disabilities that require websites to have a clear and simple structure that is easy to navigate

Failing to implement key elements that are needed for people with disabilities can cause those users to feel frustrated, and can make completing everyday tasks difficult, leading to feelings of exclusion for the disabled community. Ensuring your website meets accessibility standards greatly benefits disabled users, while also improving the wider experience for all.

Why is digital accessibility important?

There are around 16 million people in the UK that have a disability that continue to face daily challenges when accessing websites. This accounts for 25% of the population of the UK, which highlights how there is a huge audience that many businesses and websites are continuing to create digital obstacles for.

Disabled users face daily friction while trying to access and interact with websites, from navigating through the site to checkout processes there is repeated exclusion in all corners of the internet. Digital accessibility is not only a personal issue, it can also have a financial impact.

Digital Accessibility and Revenue

Ignoring the needs of disabled users can cause businesses to lose around £2 billion a month. There are many barriers that can block those that use assistive technologies from completing important interactions on a website. Actions such as the checkout process or form fills can cause frustration for disabled users with unclear instructions or lack of keyboard navigation. 

Although this causes businesses to miss out on revenue opportunities, these accessibility obstacles block disabled users from being able to experience and interact with websites. 

The Human Impact

Although there are financial benefits that make digital accessibility a key area for businesses, the reason why accessibility is so important is the human element. Just imagine not being able to buy your friends and family gifts, book a holiday, or even sign up for an online course. 

There are so many simple tasks that abled users can navigate and interact with, without a second thought but for many disabled users it isn’t that simple. Ensuring that your website meets digital accessibility standards can greatly improve their user experience within the digital landscape.

Digital Accessibility Legislation

Accessibility isn’t only an ethical decision, it is also a legal requirement. There are many digital accessibility legislations including the Equality Act 2010, which states that public, private and non-profit organisations must make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to ensure that disabled users can access websites and apps. 

You may be wondering what is a ‘reasonable adjustment’? It is simply proactive actions and changes that help to remove digital barriers that ensure disabled users can access your website. This can include ensuring your website has keyboard navigations or providing information in alternative formats such as including captions on videos or alternative text on images. 

This amplifies how accessibility is an opportunity to increase your website’s overall user experience, while also complying to legal requirements. 

Understanding why digital accessibility matters naturally leads to a bigger question, how do you create an accessible experience for all?

The principles of web accessibility: What is WCAG?

Digital accessibility is measured by the globally accepted WCAG standards, which provide a clear understanding of how to build inclusive and accessible websites for all users. The WCAG guidelines are based on the four principles of accessibility that encompass all elements of the online experience. 

Perceivable: the information on your website must be presented to users in a way that they can recognise, this includes using captions for videos, text descriptions for images and ensuring high contrast between text and backgrounds. 

Missing elements such as alt text, can cause screen readers to skip over images, leaving visually impaired users confused or missing critical information. 

Operable: many disabled users rely on assistive technologies such as keyboard navigation and voice commands, therefore it is key to ensure your website is easy to navigate and use, no matter how a user interacts with it.

Assistive technologies for some users are their only way to navigate and interact with a website. If a keyboard-only user was trying to purchase a ticket to a show but they get stuck unable to move through the checkout they will likely leave the website.

Understandable: it isn't just physical disabilities that can be limited in accessing websites therefore it is key to ensure websites can be accessed by users with various cognitive needs by ensuring information is easy for users to understand and clear on how to complete tasks. This can be done by using a consistent website design, clear instructions and simple language.

Imagine trying to register for a course online, but there are inconsistent instructions, unclear button labels and you don’t know how to proceed. This can become a very overwhelming experience for someone with cognitive impairments.

Robust: how users interact with the web has changed massively over the years with the development of smart phones and assistive technologies. Websites must now be compatible across all device types, assistive technologies, and browsers by implementing universal formats, valid code and semantic structure.

For someone that uses a voice assistant on a smartphone, they may not be able to fill out a form if the website relies on outdated scripts.

The Levels of WCAG Compliance

The principles of digital accessibility are measured through three levels of success criteria to achieve WCAG compliance. The three levels are A, AA, and AAA.

Level A is the baseline which ensures basic accessibility, while AA is the recommended industry standard for websites. The final level AAA is the most advanced and can be quite complex to achieve. 

In order for a website to be considered digitally accessible, each success criteria of that level must be met.

Addressing accessibility issues improves the usability and inclusivity for all users, and many of the best practices improve how search engines crawl and index websites leading to better performance and the opportunity to reach a wider audience. 

Why accessibility is essential for SEO?

Search engine algorithms are consistently updated with one clear goal - to improve the user experience for all. Because of this, digital accessibility can  play a meaningful role in how well your website performs in search, while also ensuring accessible compliance and inclusivity for all users.

Research continues to support this connection as an accessibility study by Accessibility Checker found that websites with an accessibility score of 75 out of 100 or above consistently outperformed their competitors, positioning accessibility as a genuine driver of performance.

How search engines interpret accessible content

SEO and accessibility are often treated as separate disciplines, but in reality they are deeply connected. At their core they both aim to ensure content is easy to understand and navigate from both a user's perspective as well as a search engine's. 

Search engines will not experience a webpage visually, they rely on the HTML code structure to understand what content exists and how it’s been organised. This is very similar to how screen readers will experience your website, as they also rely on semantic markup and a logical content hierarchy to understand your webpage. Many of the signals that assistive technologies depend on are the same signals search engines will use to assess relevance and quality. 

Digital accessibility also plays an important role in crawlability, which is fundamental to SEO. As clear navigation and keyboard-friendly menus create a cleaner markup that search engines can crawl more efficiently. While content hidden behind non-semantic elements or overly reliant on JavaScript can prevent both search engines and assistive technologies from accessing important information.  

As AI Search continues to grow, accessibility becomes even more relevant within the digital landscape. Well-structured and easily digestible content is not only accessible, it also allows search engines and LLMs to better understand your website, improving your chances of appearing in LLMs and AI Overviews.

Accessibility as a user experience signal

Search engines increasingly rely on user-centric signals to evaluate page quality, and accessibility has a direct impact on how users interact with a website. When content is easy to navigate and understand, users are more likely to stay on your site longer, engage with your content, and even complete actions such as form submissions or purchases. However, when users encounter barriers they are more likely to leave which can signal a poor user experience to search engines.

In the eyes of Google a high-quality website is one that can load quickly and that will allow users to easily complete tasks with minimal friction. Digital accessibility supports this by encouraging clear form labels that reduce errors, simpler layouts that improve usability and uses fewer heavy scripts or overlays that slow down performance.  

Ultimately, SEO and accessibility are working towards the same outcome, content that is easy to find, understand and use. By prioritising clear structure, faster page load times, minimal friction and logical content flow, websites can improve performance while reaching a larger audience and deliver a more inclusive experience. 

Digital accessibility benefits search engines because they mirror human accessibility needs. Clear navigation and content structures make it easier for users to understand the context of a page and move through a website. Informative instructions and content that is easy to understand allows users to engage with pages and reduce friction when interacting with a website. Contributing to a positive user experience for all.

While digital accessibility can help your content be discovered organically, it can also play a role in paid traffic.

Why accessibility is essential for PPC?

In paid search, every click has a cost. When users arrive on a landing page through an ad and struggle to navigate further, understand the content or complete an action, these usability barriers increase wasted spend and user frustrations. Digital accessibility plays a critical role in ensuring that paid traffic can convert efficiently and improve inclusivity, by creating landing pages that have a positive user experience for all. 

Paid traffic often comes from users with urgent intent, those looking to book, donate or sign-up through your website. Poor digital accessibility is especially harmful within these moments as users that want to convert can’t, adding to a user's frustration by meeting an inaccessible page. 

By prioritising key areas that affect accessibility such as landing page experience and conversion rate optimisation. You can create a user experience that allows users to interact with websites without constant obstacles and friction.

Landing Page Experience

Google Ads Quality Score is influenced by several factors, including expected click-through rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience. Accessibility has a direct impact on the landing page experience component. Landing pages that have a clear structure, load quickly and clearly communicate their purpose are more likely to meet Google’s quality expectations and earn higher quality scores. 

Ensuring that your landing pages prioritise clarity and simplicity are qualities that are especially important for both PPC and accessibility. A clean layout with minimal distractions such as pop-ups, and straightforward calls to actions that allow a user to understand what action they will be taking can make it easier for users to complete conversions. 

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)

Digital accessibility can also impact conversion rate optimisation. By reducing friction and improving completion rates through properly labelling form fields, providing clear instructions and including informative error messages. When a user can easily understand what information is required and how to submit it they are more likely to convert regardless of device type or ability. 

By improving landing page experience and boosting your quality score through accessible designs, marketers and users can get more value from every click. In competitive PPC environments, accessibility can be the difference between rising costs and sustainable growth.   

Final Thoughts 

In this day and age, the internet is where a lot of 'life' happens; it is how people work, where you can learn, access healthcare and socialise. If physical buildings rightly adapt for disabilities with ramps and lifts, digital spaces also need to adapt to ensure inclusivity.

Exclusion online has real-world consequences however, for those using screen readers, keyboard navigations or voice controls small design changes can be the key difference in establishing access for all. Features that are merely a convenience for some can be a gateway to accessibility for others.

As we have established above, not only does digital accessibility improve inclusivity, it also directly impacts key SEO and PPC factors that drive website performance.

By implementing accessibility improvements and enhancing the overall user experience, you will benefit not only disabled users but all users. These changes can expand your audience, boost SEO and PPC visibility, and even make your site more AI-friendly. Making digital accessibility not only a profitable choice but an ethical one with human impact at the forefront.