7 Simple Ways to Make Your WordPress Website More Accessible
How accessible is your website? Is it clear and simple enough for everyone to navigate? If not, then you should consider some changes through Web Design Toronto services.
Accessibility is important because it helps ensure that people with disabilities or limited mobility can access information and services. This means that anyone can use these websites even by those with disabilities.
There are several ways to improve accessibility on your site. Here are the techniques to make your website easier to read and use.
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Make Sure All Links Work
When you design your website, you should test every link on your site to see whether it works properly. Some web browsers may show the destination page but not display any of the contents of the page. In these cases, you might want to include a “Skip Content” button to help visitors get around broken links.
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Use Seamless Navigation
This technique makes navigation easy for users with visual impairments. It also allows them to skip content they do not need.
To do this, you must have a clean and organized menu system. You can start by adding a top-level menu item that includes all of the pages on your site. Then, you can link each page to its corresponding submenu items.
For example, if your home page has three main sections: About Services, Contact Us, and Us you could create three separate menus and assign each one to a section. This way, when someone clicks on an item in the menu, he or she gets to that section.
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Make Sure Images Are Viewable
People with vision problems often struggle to read large blocks of text. To avoid this problem, you should reduce the size of your images so that they are more readable.
If you still have trouble reading your image, you can add alternative text to describe what the image shows.
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Add Alternative Text to Links
If you have a link on your site that takes visitors to another location, you should provide additional information about where they are going. If you do not, people with vision problems will not know how to reach the new page. They might click on the link and end up on a different page than expected.
In addition, search engines like Google and Bing use the title tag as part of their ranking algorithm. Therefore, you should always include a descriptive title.
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Include Keywords in Headings
Using headings effectively can increase the chances of search engines finding your site. Heading levels help to organize content on your site. A heading typically contains a few sentences describing the topic.
Headings are especially useful for providing context. They can help readers understand the purpose of a piece of content. Additionally, they give search engine spiders something to crawl. Therefore, you should try to keep your headings concise.
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Provide Captions for Videos
If you have videos on your site, you should provide captions for them. These descriptions appear below the video and tell viewers what is happening in the clip.
Captions make it easier for people who are blind to watch your videos. In addition, they improve accessibility for everyone else.
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Use Semantic Markup
Semantic markup helps search engines better understand your site’s structure. It does this by assigning keywords to specific areas of your site. For example, you can mark up the navigation bar with keywords related to the various sections of your site.
The same goes for other parts of your site. This makes it easy for search engine spiders to identify those pages. This improves your SEO score and increases the likelihood that your site will rank well in search results.
Bonus Tip
Create a Site Map. You can create a sitemap for your site if you think it would benefit users. A sitemap is an XML file that lists all the pages on your site. It allows search engine crawlers to navigate through your site easily. Sitemaps are particularly helpful when you have lots of pages or complex navigation.
Final Advice
Having an easily accessible website is essential for any business. However, it does not stop there. You need to make sure that it is also usable by anyone. The tips discussed here should help you do just that.