SEO through Accessibility- How designing accessible websites leads to automatic SEO By Abhay Rautela http://www.conetrees.com , http://www.theuxbookmark.com , @conetrees

Agenda An overview on SEO An overview on Web Accessibility Where SEO and Accessibility overlap WCAG 2.0 guideline implementation overlapping with SEO Accessibility Implementation Q n A Feedback

An overview on SEO

An overview on Web Accessibility

Where SEO and Accessibility overlap

WCAG 2.0 guideline implementation overlapping with SEO

Accessibility Implementation

Q n A

Feedback

An overview on SEO Brief Benefits Major search engines How do search engines work

Brief

Benefits

Major search engines

How do search engines work

An overview on SEO: Brief SEO is the process of optimizing a website in terms of increasing its chances of getting a good position in the SERP or rankings in crawler-based listings of search engines (organic as opposed to PPC) According to Forrester, 81% of consumers use search engines to find products An interesting fact: According to WebSite Optimization, LLC, only 28.7% of online marketers analyze their stats. Marketers who do check their stats get 25% better conversion rates

SEO is the process of optimizing a website in terms of increasing its chances of getting a good position in the SERP or rankings in crawler-based listings of search engines (organic as opposed to PPC)

According to Forrester, 81% of consumers use search engines to find products

An interesting fact: According to WebSite Optimization, LLC, only 28.7% of online marketers analyze their stats. Marketers who do check their stats get 25% better conversion rates

An overview on SEO: Benefits SEO is important for any commercial website because it can: Drive high quality customers to their website Build their brand online by communicating marketing messages to their target audience Increase a brand’s profile against their competitors Increase sales leads from customers looking for their products and services

SEO is important for any commercial website because it can:

Drive high quality customers to their website

Build their brand online by communicating marketing messages to their target audience

Increase a brand’s profile against their competitors

Increase sales leads from customers looking for their products and services

An overview on SEO: Major search engines Top 3 Search Engines Understanding leading search engine criteria for rankings is key for effective SEO. Simple and effective coding for SEO reaps good results

Top 3 Search Engines

Understanding leading search engine criteria for rankings is key for effective SEO. Simple and effective coding for SEO reaps good results

An overview on SEO: How search engines work How do Search Engines work? A spider or crawler which is a component of a SE gathers listings by automatically "crawling" the web The spider follows links to web pages, makes copies of the pages and stores them in the SE’s index Based on this data, the SE then indexes the pages and ranks the websites Spiders read only text, nothing else. Some can index Flash content, PDF and Word content. While all can crawl static pages, only some can crawl dynamic pages The most beneficial SEO practices revolve around: Keywords and content, page titles, inbound links and internal links Out of these four, three can be taken care of by accessible websites

How do Search Engines work?

A spider or crawler which is a component of a SE gathers listings by automatically "crawling" the web

The spider follows links to web pages, makes copies of the pages and stores them in the SE’s index

Based on this data, the SE then indexes the pages and ranks the websites

Spiders read only text, nothing else.

Some can index Flash content, PDF and Word content.

While all can crawl static pages, only some can crawl dynamic pages

The most beneficial SEO practices revolve around:

Keywords and content, page titles, inbound links and internal links

Out of these four, three can be taken care of by accessible websites

An overview on Accessibility Brief Legal and Social issue Benefits We fix the issue

Brief

Legal and Social issue

Benefits

We fix the issue

An overview on Accessibility: Brief Web Accessibility is about making websites accessible to people, those with special needs or otherwise. It is a fundamental aspect to the concept of the World Wide Web. According to Tim-Berners-Lee, inventor of the WWW and director of the W3C, “The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.” The four broad categories of disabilities are: Visual - blind, color blind and reduced vision Hearing - deaf, reduced hearing Physical - in the case of the web means those with motor disabilities that inhibits the use of the keyboard or mouse Cognitive/ neurological - dyslexia, memory problems, attention deficit disorder.

Web Accessibility is about making websites accessible to people, those with special needs or otherwise.

It is a fundamental aspect to the concept of the World Wide Web.

According to Tim-Berners-Lee, inventor of the WWW and director of the W3C, “The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.”

The four broad categories of disabilities are:

Visual - blind, color blind and reduced vision

Hearing - deaf, reduced hearing

Physical - in the case of the web means those with motor disabilities that inhibits the use of the keyboard or mouse

Cognitive/ neurological - dyslexia, memory problems, attention deficit disorder.

An overview on Accessibility: Brief The disabled use assistive technologies and other tools to access website content as far as possible as others do Assistive technologies for the blind include screen readers and Braille displays Almost 10% of the world’s population is disabled in some way. That’s a considerably large percentage of potential audience for us to ignore

The disabled use assistive technologies and other tools to access website content as far as possible as others do

Assistive technologies for the blind include screen readers and Braille displays

Almost 10% of the world’s population is disabled in some way. That’s a considerably large percentage of potential audience for us to ignore

An overview on Accessibility: Legal and Social issue Web Accessibility is an issue in many ways. Of the major ones, a social and legal issue The Act makes it unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person by refusing to provide them any service which it provides to members of the public Code of Practice, DDA (Disability Discrimination Act), UK Section 508 requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities, including employees and members of the public

Web Accessibility is an issue in many ways. Of the major ones, a social and legal issue

The Act makes it unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person by refusing to provide them any service which it provides to members of the public

Code of Practice, DDA (Disability Discrimination Act), UK

Section 508 requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities, including employees and members of the public

An overview on Accessibility: Benefits Benefits of creating an accessible website include: Fulfilling legal obligation Covering a wider audience including those with special needs A website that is accessible by different user agents like cell phones, PDA’s, Web TV (horizontal scrolling not available), text only browsers, etc. Less time consuming to manage. An accessible website aims to separate content (words, images that we see on the screen) and presentation (the way that these words and images are laid out) of each page and we do so with CSS Future ready. Websites aren’t particularly optimized for the handheld. With a staggering projection in hand held sales in the next few years, having an accessible website avoids money spent in optimizing a website for them in the future And last but far away from being the least, automatic SEO

Benefits of creating an accessible website include:

Fulfilling legal obligation

Covering a wider audience including those with special needs

A website that is accessible by different user agents like cell phones, PDA’s, Web TV (horizontal scrolling not available), text only browsers, etc.

Less time consuming to manage. An accessible website aims to separate content (words, images that we see on the screen) and presentation (the way that these words and images are laid out) of each page and we do so with CSS

Future ready. Websites aren’t particularly optimized for the handheld. With a staggering projection in hand held sales in the next few years, having an accessible website avoids money spent in optimizing a website for them in the future

And last but far away from being the least, automatic SEO

An overview on Accessibility: We fix the issue Besides responsibly dealing with this issue, a good knowledge of web accessibility helps demonstrate a holistic understanding towards creating websites and differentiates the developer in the world of skilled web designers As industry professionals, our success in containing these issues lies in how much we want to acquaint ourselves with understanding web accessibility

Besides responsibly dealing with this issue, a good knowledge of web accessibility helps demonstrate a holistic understanding towards creating websites and differentiates the developer in the world of skilled web designers

As industry professionals, our success in containing these issues lies in how much we want to acquaint ourselves with understanding web accessibility

SEO and Accessibility overlap Brief WCAG 2.0, guidelines and those benefiting SEO Accessibility implementation

Brief

WCAG 2.0, guidelines and those benefiting SEO

Accessibility implementation

SEO and Accessibility overlap: Brief Search engine spiders are deaf and blind. Like those with visual and hearing disabilities, spiders rely on text just as screen readers, text only browsers and Braille displays rely on text to convey information to users with visual disability Besides this commonality between spiders and those with visual disabilities (or those that use a shell account), designing websites for other disabilities too benefits SEO The WCAG guidelines include many points where applying techniques to meet them benefit the SEO strategy automatically

Search engine spiders are deaf and blind. Like those with visual and hearing disabilities, spiders rely on text just as screen readers, text only browsers and Braille displays rely on text to convey information to users with visual disability

Besides this commonality between spiders and those with visual disabilities (or those that use a shell account), designing websites for other disabilities too benefits SEO

The WCAG guidelines include many points where applying techniques to meet them benefit the SEO strategy automatically

SEO and Accessibility overlap: WCAG 2.0 (working draft) We will look at WCAG 2.0 working draft instead of WCAG 1. Even though there are expected to be a few changes here and there in the later, the benefits of adopting it are: There are not significant changes required to make websites confirm to WCAG 2 WCAG 2 is more applicable to current technologies and is more testable as well 6 out of the 13 guidelines benefit SEO as well. That’s a large amount of overlap and a lot of benefit to SEO

We will look at WCAG 2.0 working draft instead of WCAG 1. Even though there are expected to be a few changes here and there in the later, the benefits of adopting it are:

There are not significant changes required to make websites confirm to WCAG 2

WCAG 2 is more applicable to current technologies and is more testable as well

6 out of the 13 guidelines benefit SEO as well. That’s a large amount of overlap and a lot of benefit to SEO

SEO and Accessibility overlap: WCAG 2.0 guidelines (WCAG 2.0 working draft) 1.1 Provide text alternatives for all non-text content 1.2 Provide synchronized alternatives for multimedia 1.3 Ensure information and structure can be separated from presentation 1.4 Easy to distinguish foreground information from its background 2.1 All functionality operable via a keyboard interface 2.2 Allow users to control time limits on their reading or interaction 2.3 Allow users to avoid content that can cause seizures by photosensitivity 2.4 Mechanisms to help user navigation, find content & orient themselves 2.5 Help users avoid mistakes, make it easy to correct mistakes that occur 3.1 Make text content readable and understandable. 3.2 Make the placement and functionality of content predictable. 4.1 Support compatibility with current and future user agents (including AT) 4.2Content is accessible or provide an accessible alternative

(WCAG 2.0 working draft)

1.1 Provide text alternatives for all non-text content

1.2 Provide synchronized alternatives for multimedia

1.3 Ensure information and structure can be separated from presentation

1.4 Easy to distinguish foreground information from its background

2.1 All functionality operable via a keyboard interface

2.2 Allow users to control time limits on their reading or interaction

2.3 Allow users to avoid content that can cause seizures by photosensitivity

2.4 Mechanisms to help user navigation, find content & orient themselves

2.5 Help users avoid mistakes, make it easy to correct mistakes that occur

3.1 Make text content readable and understandable.

3.2 Make the placement and functionality of content predictable.

4.1 Support compatibility with current and future user agents (including AT)

4.2Content is accessible or provide an accessible alternative

SEO and Accessibility overlap: Guidelines benefiting SEO 1.1 Provide text alternatives for all non-text content 1.2 Provide synchronized alternatives for multimedia 1.3 Ensure information and structure can be separated from presentation 1.4 Easy to distinguish foreground information from its background 2.1 All functionality operable via a keyboard interface 2.2 Allow users to control time limits on their reading or interaction 2.3 Allow users to avoid content that can cause seizures by photosensitivity 2.4 Mechanisms to help user navigation, find content & orient themselves 2.5 Help users avoid mistakes, make it easy to correct mistakes that occur 3.1 Make text content readable and understandable. 3.2 Make the placement and functionality of content predictable. 4.1 Support compatibility with current and future user agents (including AT) 4.2 Content is accessible or provide an accessible alternative

1.1 Provide text alternatives for all non-text content

1.2 Provide synchronized alternatives for multimedia

1.3 Ensure information and structure can be separated from presentation

1.4 Easy to distinguish foreground information from its background

2.1 All functionality operable via a keyboard interface

2.2 Allow users to control time limits on their reading or interaction

2.3 Allow users to avoid content that can cause seizures by photosensitivity

2.4 Mechanisms to help user navigation, find content & orient themselves

2.5 Help users avoid mistakes, make it easy to correct mistakes that occur

3.1 Make text content readable and understandable.

3.2 Make the placement and functionality of content predictable.

4.1 Support compatibility with current and future user agents (including AT)

4.2 Content is accessible or provide an accessible alternative

Accessibility implementation: Guideline 1.1 1.1 Provide text alternatives for all non-text content Where Images and image maps Audio and Video SEO Benefits Spiders understand what the non textual content is about and index it as opposed to indexing nothing otherwise Note: While spiders understand text, they certainly don’t interpret text used for visual representation, such as ASCII art Accessibility Blind people using text browsers in conjunction with screen readers benefit How alt and title attributes Use sensibly. Images that are for pure decorative purposes don’t require ‘alt’ attributes. Spacer images require empty alt like alt=“”, not alt=“ “, the later is equivalent to a space Links that are self descriptive don’t require title assigned to them

1.1 Provide text alternatives for all non-text content

Where

Images and image maps

Audio and Video

SEO Benefits

Spiders understand what the non textual content is about and index it as opposed to indexing nothing otherwise

Note: While spiders understand text, they certainly don’t interpret text used for visual representation, such as ASCII art

Accessibility

Blind people using text browsers in conjunction with screen readers benefit

How

alt and title attributes

Use sensibly. Images that are for pure decorative purposes don’t require ‘alt’ attributes. Spacer images require empty alt like alt=“”, not alt=“ “, the later is equivalent to a space

Links that are self descriptive don’t require title assigned to them

1.1 Provide text alternatives for all non-text content How (continued) noembed , noscript Use of body ( alt , p , longdesc ) in “applet” and “object” and “area” tags Accessibility implementation: Guideline 1.1

1.1 Provide text alternatives for all non-text content

How (continued)

noembed , noscript

Use of body ( alt , p , longdesc ) in “applet” and “object” and “area” tags

1.2 Provide synchronized alternatives for multimedia Where Audio and Video SEO Benefits In the particular case that a full text alternative/ transcript is provided for prerecorded audio and video, spiders benefit by comprehending complete information conveyed by the multimedia content. This is also a lot of content as if we describes as much of the multimedia content as we can. Accessibility Blind people using text browsers in conjunction with screen readers benefit. Deaf people benefit How Full multimedia text alternative including those of any interaction Captions for multimedia (open, closed) Sign language interpretation for multimedia Audio descriptions for video Accessibility implementation: Guideline 1.2

1.2 Provide synchronized alternatives for multimedia

Where

Audio and Video

SEO Benefits

In the particular case that a full text alternative/ transcript is provided for prerecorded audio and video, spiders benefit by comprehending complete information conveyed by the multimedia content. This is also a lot of content as if we describes as much of the multimedia content as we can.

Accessibility

Blind people using text browsers in conjunction with screen readers benefit.

Deaf people benefit

How

Full multimedia text alternative including those of any interaction

Captions for multimedia (open, closed)

Sign language interpretation for multimedia

Audio descriptions for video

1.2 Provide synchronized alternatives for multimedia How (continued) Document including correctly sequenced descriptions of all visual settings, actions, and non-speech sounds combined with descriptive transcripts of all dialogue and a means of achieving any outcomes that are achieved using interaction during the multimedia Accessibility implementation: Guideline 1.2

1.2 Provide synchronized alternatives for multimedia

How (continued)

Document including correctly sequenced descriptions of all visual settings, actions, and non-speech sounds combined with descriptive transcripts of all dialogue and a means of achieving any outcomes that are achieved using interaction during the multimedia

1.3 Ensure information and structure can be separated from presentation Where XHTML, CSS SEO Benefits To a spider, the gist of your web page is determined first by what content is at the top of the page Spiders use structural markup to understand what your web page content is about, and they give more weight to text within heading elements (<h1>, <h2>, <h3>, etc.) Accessibility Blind people using text browsers in conjunction with screen readers benefit. For example, the presentation format changes when the content is read by a screen reader or when a user style sheet is substituted for the style sheet provided by the author How Semantic markup for for paragraphs, headings and lists Present main content first using CSS Accessibility implementation: Guideline 1.3

1.3 Ensure information and structure can be separated from presentation

Where

XHTML, CSS

SEO Benefits

To a spider, the gist of your web page is determined first by what content is at the top of the page

Spiders use structural markup to understand what your web page content is about, and they give more weight to text within heading elements (<h1>, <h2>, <h3>, etc.)

Accessibility

Blind people using text browsers in conjunction with screen readers benefit. For example, the presentation format changes when the content is read by a screen reader or when a user style sheet is substituted for the style sheet provided by the author

How

Semantic markup for for paragraphs, headings and lists

Present main content first using CSS

1.3 Ensure information and structure can be separated from presentation How (continued) h1 to h6 for headings li, ul, dl for lists p for paragraphs Appropriate table markup for tabular data using caption, summary, scope, id, header, footer attributes Label tag for forms and title attribute if label tag can’t be assigned Legend and fieldset tags Practical title tags used for page titles Accessibility implementation: Guideline 1.3

1.3 Ensure information and structure can be separated from presentation

How (continued)

h1 to h6 for headings

li, ul, dl for lists

p for paragraphs

Appropriate table markup for tabular data using caption, summary, scope, id, header, footer attributes

Label tag for forms and title attribute if label tag can’t be assigned Legend and fieldset tags

Practical title tags used for page titles

2.4 Mechanisms to help user navigation, find content & orient themselves Where Sitemaps (relevant to SEO) SEO Benefits Search engine spiders can also quickly find and index every single page of your site in the least amount of time. The SEO benefits of using a sitemap far considerable and should not be ignored. Accessibility Site maps can be a useful accessibility tool for visually impaired users as they provide a straightforward list of links to the main pages on the site without any of the fluff in between. Also useful for those with dyslexia for the same reason. How Semantic markup for for paragraphs, headings and lists. Present main content first using CSS. Accessibility implementation: Guideline 2.4

2.4 Mechanisms to help user navigation, find content & orient themselves

Where

Sitemaps (relevant to SEO)

SEO Benefits

Search engine spiders can also quickly find and index every single page of your site in the least amount of time. The SEO benefits of using a sitemap far considerable and should not be ignored.

Accessibility

Site maps can be a useful accessibility tool for visually impaired users as they provide a straightforward list of links to the main pages on the site without any of the fluff in between.

Also useful for those with dyslexia for the same reason.

How

Semantic markup for for paragraphs, headings and lists.

Present main content first using CSS.

3.1 Make text content readable and understandable. SEO Benefits More readable and understandable text means using more words. Even if using more words are not part of your keywords for a page, it increases the chance of a website to appear under a users search phrase. Major search engines maintain country and language-specific indexes. Specifying the language of a document (or of text within a document) helps search engines decide in which index(es) to place it. Accessibility Dyslexic people & those with learning disabilities where it is tough to recognize individual words and sentences. Those who use screen readers or other technologies that convert text into synthetic speech; Implementation Specify language in the doctype <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC &quot;-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN&quot; &quot;http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd&quot;> Accessibility implementation: Guideline 3.1

3.1 Make text content readable and understandable.

SEO Benefits

More readable and understandable text means using more words. Even if using more words are not part of your keywords for a page, it increases the chance of a website to appear under a users search phrase.

Major search engines maintain country and language-specific indexes. Specifying the language of a document (or of text within a document) helps search engines decide in which index(es) to place it.

Accessibility

Dyslexic people & those with learning disabilities where it is tough to recognize individual words and sentences.

Those who use screen readers or other technologies that convert text into synthetic speech;

Implementation

Specify language in the doctype

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC &quot;-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN&quot; &quot;http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd&quot;>

3.1 Make text content readable and understandable. Implementation Use abbr, not acronym tags <abbr title=&quot;Hypertext Markup Language&quot;>HTML</abbr> <acronym title=&quot;Joint Information Systems Committee&quot;>JISC's<acronym> IE 6 doesn’t support abbr but supprts acronym. IE7 however supports abbr Linking to definitions using footnotes, providing a glossary Use language that avoids jargon that might not be understood by the target audience and is simple and easy to comprehend. Accessibility implementation: Guideline 3.1

3.1 Make text content readable and understandable.

Implementation

Use abbr, not acronym tags

<abbr title=&quot;Hypertext Markup Language&quot;>HTML</abbr>

<acronym title=&quot;Joint Information Systems Committee&quot;>JISC's<acronym>

IE 6 doesn’t support abbr but supprts acronym. IE7 however supports abbr

Linking to definitions using footnotes, providing a glossary

Use language that avoids jargon that might not be understood by the target audience and is simple and easy to comprehend.

4.1 Support compatibility with current and future user agents (including assistive technologies) SEO Benefits The spider is an agent as well. Accessibility Ensuring that Web units parse unambiguously helps ensure that assistive technologies can parse the content accurately and without crashing Implementation Use semantic markup, making sure tags are closed well and use unique id’s instead of classes. This is one of the other reasons for having web standards Accessibility implementation: Guideline 4.1

4.1 Support compatibility with current and future user agents (including assistive technologies)

SEO Benefits

The spider is an agent as well.

Accessibility

Ensuring that Web units parse unambiguously helps ensure that assistive technologies can parse the content accurately and without crashing

Implementation

Use semantic markup, making sure tags are closed well and use unique id’s instead of classes. This is one of the other reasons for having web standards

4.2 Content is accessible or provide an accessible alternative SEO Benefits Most spiders can’t read scripts; therefore a webpage’s usability should not be crippled when scripts are not supported. Otherwise, search engines may not even index the page, let alone rank it well. Accessibility Blind people can access areas they otherwise couldn’t due to the screen reader. Implementation Ensure all links are working and as many static links as possible. Accessibility implementation: Guideline 4.2

4.2 Content is accessible or provide an accessible alternative

SEO Benefits

Most spiders can’t read scripts; therefore a webpage’s usability should not be crippled when scripts are not supported. Otherwise, search engines may not even index the page, let alone rank it well.

Accessibility

Blind people can access areas they otherwise couldn’t due to the screen reader.

Implementation

Ensure all links are working and as many static links as possible.

Design and content guidelines Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link Offer a site map to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site. If the site map is larger than 100 or so links, you may want to break the site map into separate pages Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained in images Make sure that your TITLE and ALT tags are descriptive and accurate. Check for broken links and correct HTML If you decide to use dynamic pages (i.e., the URL contains a &quot;?&quot; character), be aware that not every search engine spider crawls dynamic pages as well as static pages. It helps to keep the parameters short and the number of them few Keep the links on a given page to a reasonable number (fewer than 100) Check pointing with Google

Design and content guidelines

Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link

Offer a site map to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site. If the site map is larger than 100 or so links, you may want to break the site map into separate pages

Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content

Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it

Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained in images

Make sure that your TITLE and ALT tags are descriptive and accurate.

Check for broken links and correct HTML

If you decide to use dynamic pages (i.e., the URL contains a &quot;?&quot; character), be aware that not every search engine spider crawls dynamic pages as well as static pages. It helps to keep the parameters short and the number of them few

Keep the links on a given page to a reasonable number (fewer than 100)

Technical guidelines Use a text browser such as Lynx to examine your site, because most search engine spiders see your site much as Lynx would. If fancy features such as JavaScript, cookies, session IDs, frames, DHTML, or Flash keep you from seeing all of your site in a text browser, then search engine spiders may have trouble crawling your site Allow search bots to crawl your sites without session IDs or arguments that track their path through the site. These techniques are useful for tracking individual user behavior, but the access pattern of bots is entirely different. Using these techniques may result in incomplete indexing of your site, as bots may not be able to eliminate URLs that look different but actually point to the same page. Make sure your web server supports the If-Modified-Since HTTP header. This feature allows your web server to tell Google whether your content has changed since we last crawled your site. Supporting this feature saves you bandwidth and overhead. Make use of the robots.txt file on your web server. This file tells crawlers which directories can or cannot be crawled. Make sure it's current for your site so that you don't accidentally block the Googlebot crawler. Visit http://www.robotstxt.org/wc/faq.html to learn how to instruct robots when they visit your site. You can test your robots.txt file to make sure you're using it correctly with the robots.txt analysis tool available in Google Sitemaps. If your company buys a content management system, make sure that the system can export your content so that search engine spiders can crawl your site. Check pointing with Google

Technical guidelines

Use a text browser such as Lynx to examine your site, because most search engine spiders see your site much as Lynx would. If fancy features such as JavaScript, cookies, session IDs, frames, DHTML, or Flash keep you from seeing all of your site in a text browser, then search engine spiders may have trouble crawling your site

Allow search bots to crawl your sites without session IDs or arguments that track their path through the site. These techniques are useful for tracking individual user behavior, but the access pattern of bots is entirely different. Using these techniques may result in incomplete indexing of your site, as bots may not be able to eliminate URLs that look different but actually point to the same page.

Make sure your web server supports the If-Modified-Since HTTP header. This feature allows your web server to tell Google whether your content has changed since we last crawled your site. Supporting this feature saves you bandwidth and overhead.

Make use of the robots.txt file on your web server. This file tells crawlers which directories can or cannot be crawled. Make sure it's current for your site so that you don't accidentally block the Googlebot crawler. Visit http://www.robotstxt.org/wc/faq.html to learn how to instruct robots when they visit your site. You can test your robots.txt file to make sure you're using it correctly with the robots.txt analysis tool available in Google Sitemaps.

If your company buys a content management system, make sure that the system can export your content so that search engine spiders can crawl your site.

SEO www.searchenginewatch.com www.seochat.com www.searchengineguide.com www.seomoz.org Accessibility www.webaim.org www.w3.org/WAI www.accessify.com www.section508.gov Excellent Resources

SEO

www.searchenginewatch.com

www.seochat.com

www.searchengineguide.com

www.seomoz.org

Accessibility

www.webaim.org

www.w3.org/WAI

www.accessify.com

www.section508.gov

Questions?

Feedback

Presentation Details This presentation was given to the Sapient Creative community at the New Delhi office in February 2007, by Abhay Rautela, also creator and moderator of the Sapient Web Accessibility distribution list and accessibility wiki node.

Thank you Website: www.conetrees.com Email: hello at conetrees dot com Twitter: www.twitter.com/conetrees The UX Practitioner’s resource: www.theuxbookmark.com