Working in a digital marketing agency means SEO is often part of the conversation from the beginning. We discuss how someone will find the site, which pages should answer their questions and what they should do next. I think accessibility needs to be part of that same conversation.
I don’t mean that accessibility replaces SEO, or that an accessible website is guaranteed a better ranking. I mean there is useful shared work: clear content, meaningful structure and information people can actually reach. As the person designing and building the site, I want those things to be considered together.
Write something a person can use
A page can contain the right subject words and still be hard to understand. Long introductions, vague headings and repeated claims can make it difficult to find an answer. I would rather know the question the page needs to address and put the useful information where someone can find it.
I try to keep paragraphs focused and explain unfamiliar terms where they are needed. A clear heading should tell someone what follows. On a service page, practical information about the process may be more helpful than another paragraph saying the business offers excellent service.
This matters to someone scanning on a phone, someone reading in a second language and someone who finds a dense page difficult to process. It also gives the page a clearer subject. It is a better starting point for search work than padding out the copy with repeated phrases.
Structure needs to exist beyond the appearance
Making text larger does not make it a heading. I want the page to have an actual title and a sensible sequence of sections, so its structure can be understood without relying on how it looks. That is particularly important when someone navigates by headings with assistive technology.
Descriptive links also help. A list of identical Read more links is less useful than links that identify the pages they lead to. The same care goes into navigation labels: the words should describe the content, rather than require a visitor to decode a clever phrase.
Google’s updated SEO Starter Guide puts useful, understandable website content within the work of making a site search-friendly. I treat that as a reason to improve the information itself, without making promises about the ranking effect of an individual heading or label.
Images and controls need meaning
An image description should explain the useful information the image contributes. On a product page, that might include a feature shown in the photograph. A decorative flourish does not need a description that interrupts someone reading the page. Filling every image field with keywords misses the point.
I avoid putting essential information only in an image of text. Prices, terms and instructions should remain readable text. If the design depends on a graphic, the same information still needs an appropriate accessible equivalent.
Forms need visible labels, understandable instructions and errors that tell someone what to correct. A coloured border alone is not enough. A keyboard user also needs to see where focus is, and to reach the same actions a person using a mouse can reach.
The journey matters as much as the landing page
On a Magento shop, it is easy to spend a lot of time on the category page and leave product options, the basket or checkout until later. A customer who can find the product but cannot choose a size or correct an address has not been given a usable shopping experience.
The same is true of a WordPress enquiry form. Bringing a visitor to a page is only part of the job. I want to check what happens when they use the form, miss a required field or need to revisit something they entered. Those details affect whether the website is useful once someone arrives.
My earlier Magento 1 work and newer Magento 2 projects make me careful about inherited components. A familiar-looking theme does not tell us whether its controls, labels and focus behaviour work properly. Shared styles and extensions can change those details, so I check the actual journey.
Make the publishing process support it
In WordPress, the design needs to make good editing habits possible. I give headings a clear purpose, explain image descriptions and try to avoid templates that encourage people to simulate structure with bold text and blank lines. The client needs to understand why those choices matter.
I also want realistic limits on what the design allows. A client should be able to update a page without having to recreate an accessible layout from scratch. If every new section depends on remembering several hidden rules, we have made the ongoing job harder than it needs to be.
Checking it as part of the build
WCAG 2.1, published in June, provides guidance alongside the existing WCAG 2.0 requirements. I use that guidance to inform the work, then check the pages and tasks people will actually use. A checklist or automated result alone cannot establish the whole experience.
I look at headings, link labels, contrast, keyboard use and form feedback. I also read the content away from the finished design. If the message only makes sense with a picture and a particular arrangement of columns, it probably needs more thought.
Accessibility deserves attention because people need to use the site. Its overlap with good search work is another reason to bring it into the agency process early. I want the finished website to be easier to find, easier to understand and easier to use once someone gets there.