Web accessibility is SEO: If people can’t use it, search won’t trust it

In this talk, Damien will show why accessibility is now the most important foundation of modern SEO. He will explore accessibility not only as a matter of compliance and empathy, but as a way to make websites easier for people and machines to understand, trust and use.
The talk will connect human inclusivity with machine inclusivity: clear structures, meaningful content, organised journeys, accessible media, robust metadata, and better use of systems such as PIM and DAM. Damien will also look at what the direction of WCAG 3.0 tells us about the future of accessibility, and why SEOs need to think beyond rankings towards usability, trust, findability and long-term digital quality.

Transcript

1. Accessibility is SEO If people can’t use it, machines won’t trust it. Damien Robert Web Accessibility activist
2. WE SPEND ALL DAY MAKING CONTENT EASY TO ACCESS...
3. …TO ROBOTS.
4. RENDER → CRAWL → INDEX or SOURCE → RANK or SURFACE
5. WHY ARE SEO PEOPLE SO UNINTERESTED IN ACCESSIBILITY?
6. SEO SAYS “I’m busy…” IT CAN WAIT (SCARED TO START)
7. European Accessibility Act 28 June 2025
8. https://www.lflegal.com/global-law-and-policy/
9. Carrefour accessibility ruling 4 June 2026 70% of compliance is not enough Six months to comply. €500 per day after the deadline.
10. CLOSE YOUR EYES.
11. LISTEN TO THIS WEBSITE.
12. Before and After Demonstration of W3C https://www.w3.org/WAI/demos/bad/before/home.html Befo
13. LISTEN TO YOUR WEBSITE WITH A SCREENREADER Narrator - Windows: Win + Ctrl + Enter VoiceOver, ChromeVox, TalkBack, NVDA
14. START BY IMPROVING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE As always!
15. 1.3 BILLION Around 16% of the global population 1 in every 6 people
16. Permanent, temporary and situational disabilities TOUCH SEE HEAR SPEAK COGNITIVE Missing limbs Blind Deaf Nonverbal Dyslexia Broken arm Eye infection Hearing aid Throat infection Concussion Carrying a baby Sun on screen NC headphones Foreign languages Tired PERMANENT TEMPORARY SITUATIONAL
17. SEO SAYS “I DON’T CARE…” NOT MY JOB (NOT MY CHORE)
18. WHO INVENTED TITLE TAGS? NOT GOOGLE!
19. ACCESSIBILITY FIRST MEANS SEO PAGE TITLES orientation HEADINGS structure ANCHOR TEXT meaning DOM ORDER sequence CTAs clarity MEDIA text alternatives Semantic HTML REFLOW / CWV Resilience, quick access, sustainability
20. NON-DUAL One practice: Reachable, structured, understandable, sustainable content which surfaces and ranks!
21. Web Accessibility and Search Marketing Manager Lead Consultant
22. DIGITAL ACCESS LEAD THE FUTURE IS ABOUT ACCESS ACCESS TO ORGANISED CONTENT, DIRECT ACCESS TO PIM/DAM/API
23. Google Lighthouse/ PageSpeed insights
24. SEOs says “I have no money…” I NEED MORE TOOLS (WE HAVE NO BUDGET)
25. Your good old tools are already offering accessibility audit
26. https://www.oncrawl.com/oncrawl-seo-thoughts/accessibility-is-seo-damien-robert-brightonseo/
27. 3548 ALT TAGS TO FIX?
28. CLOSE YOUR EYES AGAIN.
30. THE FIX IS OFTEN SMALL SILENCE REDUNDANT OR DECORATIVE IMAGES <img src="green-tshirt.jpg" alt=""> alt="" When the image adds no information that is not already on the page. NAME THE ICON LINK <a href="/instagram" aria-label="U Festival on Instagram"> <svg aria-hidden="true">…</svg> </a> The icon can be silent. The link still needs a useful accessible name.
31. NO ARIA is better than BAD ARIA
32. WCAG https://www.w3.org/TR/wcag-3.0/
33. An organised, well-structured and well-informed website is accessible and optimised
34. Your non-dual quick wins: 1. Transcribe your infographics and videos 2. Convert your pdfs into html pages 3. Replace “learn more” links with descriptive links and CTAs
35. LET’S MAKE THE WEB ACCESSIBLE. 21 days to change ableist habits /damienrobertseo