The video “The SEO Benefits of Accessible Web Design” features a discussion between two Northwoods in-house experts: Sydney Shimco, an accessibility and front-end development specialist, and Alex Boston, an SEO and content design expert. They explore the intersection of accessibility and search engine optimization (SEO), emphasizing how accessible web design benefits all users, including those with disabilities, and improves SEO performance. Sydney defines accessibility as ensuring websites are usable by everyone, including people with cognitive and physical disabilities, while Alex describes SEO as strategically tuning content to be found by the right users at the right time.
Sydney explains that accessible websites are well-structured semantically, making content easier to find and understand for both humans and machines, such as search engines and screen readers. Despite this, about 95-96% of websites remain inaccessible, presenting a significant opportunity for businesses to stand out by improving accessibility, which in turn enhances SEO. Alex adds that Google functions like a blind user, relying on content structure rather than visual design, so clean, well-organized content benefits both accessibility and SEO without conflict.
The conversation also critiques common web design trends like carousels or sliders, which are often inaccessible and ineffective for user engagement and SEO. Both experts agree that carousels create poor user experiences, especially for keyboard and screen reader users, and dilute content focus. They highlight that such design choices often result from multiple stakeholders wanting visibility on the homepage, leading to compromises that ultimately harm usability and SEO. Instead, clear navigation and well-structured content are recommended.
The panel strongly advises against using accessibility overlays or widgets that claim to fix accessibility issues automatically. Sydney points out that these overlays often worsen user experience, require activation by users, and fail to address underlying semantic issues. Alex notes that JavaScript-based overlays can hinder search engine crawling and AI tools’ ability to read content, potentially harming SEO. Moreover, data shows that 25% of web accessibility lawsuits in 2024 involved sites using such overlays, underscoring their ineffectiveness and legal risk.
Finally, both experts share practical tips: Alex emphasizes the importance of internal backlinking with keyword-optimized anchor text to improve SEO and site navigation, while Sydney recommends proper content structure using heading hierarchies and meaningful alt text for images to enhance accessibility. They also highlight the critical need for visible focus states in keyboard navigation, cautioning against CSS practices like “focus-outline: none” that hide these cues. The discussion concludes with a reminder that accessible, well-structured content benefits all users, improves SEO, and prepares websites for evolving AI-driven search technologies.