Is Your Web Content Accessible? - Links, Headers, and Scripts

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Another good tip is to make sure your link anchor text is descriptive and useful. Because most blind users browse a web page by tabbing through each link, it is important to make sure your page isn't full of "click here" links that offer no description. Obviously, this also helps search bots understand what the linked page is about. If you simply must use non-descriptive link text, then at least add the "title=" attribute to provide further clarification.

In order to comply with any version of the WCAG, all web pages must have valid HTML and CSS (you cannot use Frameset). Again, it's easier for search bots to crawl a site that's text-based rather than one that uses images to convey information. It's also a good idea to use heading elements (H1-H6) to define the page's HTML semantic structure. Although this doesn't do much to boost your page ranking, it will give your keywords prominence (assuming you put keywords in your H tags) by structuring the content based on how you want the bots to crawl your site. Headings also help people who use screen readers to navigate through a page.

One of the first things they should teach you in SEO 101 is to disable all JavaScript and CSS because browser-enhanced functionalities are difficult for search bots to access. WCAG 1.0 asks you to make sure your page content can be read without style sheets, and that pages are usable when scripts, applets, etc. are disabled or not functioning. You don't have to provide alternative presentations or alternate pages.

Developers should always identify the predominant natural language used in a document. This can be done through markup (in HTML use lang=" " and in XML use xml:lang=" ") or through HTTP headers. It will help search bots find keywords in a specified language. You should also define abbreviations and acronyms where they first occur in a document using the "title" attribute of the ABBR and ACRONYM elements. If anything, it will help improve your ranking for that term.

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