How Accessibility Improvements Boost SEO for eCommerce Sites

Accessibility and SEO aren't just compatible—they're built on the same foundations. Search engines can't see your images, watch your videos, or click through your JavaScript menus. They rely on the same semantic structure and text alternatives that assistive technologies use. When you improve accessibility, you simultaneously improve how search engines understand and rank your content.

For eCommerce sites, this connection creates compounding value: accessibility investments that reduce legal risk and expand market access also drive organic traffic and reduce customer acquisition costs. This guide explains exactly how accessibility improvements benefit SEO and how to leverage both in your optimization strategy.

Why Accessibility and SEO Overlap

Search engine crawlers and assistive technologies face similar limitations. Both need:

• Text descriptions of non-text content (images, videos, icons)
• Semantic structure to understand content hierarchy
• Navigable content that doesn't depend on visual layout
• Machine-readable markup that conveys meaning

When you write good alt text for screen readers, Google Images can index your products. When you structure pages with proper headings for keyboard navigation, Google understands your content organization. When you provide transcripts for deaf users, search engines gain indexable text from video content.

This isn't coincidence—it's fundamental to how machines interpret web content.

Alt Text: The Foundation of Both

Alt text is the clearest example of accessibility-SEO alignment. Both WCAG requirements and Google's guidelines call for descriptive text alternatives for images.

How Alt Text Helps SEO

Google Image search rankings: Google explicitly uses alt text to understand image content. Product images with good alt text appear in Google Images searches, driving additional traffic.

Page relevance signals: Alt text provides context that helps Google understand what your page is about. A product page with image alt text describing "navy blue merino wool sweater V-neck" reinforces page relevance for those terms.

Accessibility of product information: When users search for products, Google wants to show pages that provide complete information—including visual descriptions for those who can't see images.

Writing Alt Text That Serves Both Purposes

Good accessibility alt text already optimizes for search:

Poor (neither purpose served):

<img src="sweater.jpg" alt="product image">

Good (serves both):

<img src="sweater.jpg" alt="Women's navy blue merino wool V-neck sweater with ribbed cuffs">

The good example:

• Helps screen reader users understand the product
• Gives Google relevant keywords naturally
• Describes what makes this product distinct

Avoid keyword stuffing:

<!-- Bad for both accessibility and SEO -->
<img src="sweater.jpg" alt="sweater women's sweater buy sweater wool sweater navy blue sweater sale cheap">

Google penalizes keyword stuffing, and screen readers force users to listen to this gibberish. Write for humans; search engines will follow.

For complete guidance on product alt text, see our product image alt text guide.

Heading Structure: Organization for Everyone

Proper heading hierarchy helps both screen reader users and search engines understand content structure.

The SEO Impact of Headings

Content organization signals: Google uses headings to understand page structure. A logical H1 → H2 → H3 hierarchy tells search engines how your content is organized.

Featured snippet potential: Content under clear headings is more likely to appear in featured snippets. Search engines can extract section-specific content when structure is clear.

Crawl efficiency: Semantic structure helps crawlers understand page content faster and more accurately.

Heading Best Practices for Both Goals

Use one H1 per page: The H1 should describe the page's primary topic. For product pages, this is typically the product name.

<h1>Women's Merino Wool V-Neck Sweater</h1>

Use H2s for major sections:

<h2>Product Features</h2>
<h2>Size Guide</h2>
<h2>Care Instructions</h2>
<h2>Customer Reviews</h2>

Don't skip levels: Wrong: H1 → H3 → H2 Right: H1 → H2 → H3

Don't use headings for styling: If you need larger or bolder text, use CSS—not heading tags.

Common eCommerce Heading Problems

Product category pages: Many category pages use only H1 for the category name, with products in generic divs. Adding H2s for product names or sections improves both accessibility and SEO.

Homepage sections: Section headings ("New Arrivals," "Best Sellers," "Shop by Category") should use proper H2 or H3 tags, not styled divs.

Semantic HTML: Machine-Readable Structure

Semantic HTML elements convey meaning beyond visual presentation. Both assistive technologies and search engines benefit from this meaning.

Key Semantic Elements

Navigation:

<nav aria-label="Main navigation">
  <ul>
    <li><a href="/women">Women</a></li>
    <li><a href="/men">Men</a></li>
  </ul>
</nav>

The <nav> element tells both screen readers and search engines this is navigation content.

Main content:

<main>
  <!-- Primary page content -->
</main>

The <main> element identifies primary content, helping search engines distinguish it from repeated elements like headers and footers.

Articles and products:

<article itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Product">
  <h1 itemprop="name">Product Name</h1>
  <!-- Product content -->
</article>

Semantic containers with structured data give search engines maximum context.

Structured Data and Accessibility

Schema.org structured data enhances both accessibility and SEO:

Product schema:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org/",
  "@type": "Product",
  "name": "Women's Merino Wool Sweater",
  "image": "https://example.com/sweater.jpg",
  "description": "Lightweight V-neck sweater in soft merino wool...",
  "brand": "Brand Name",
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "price": "89.00",
    "priceCurrency": "USD"
  }
}

This structured data:

• Powers rich snippets in search results
• Provides complete product information in machine-readable format
• Helps voice assistants answer product queries

Lists for Product Features

Using proper list markup improves both accessibility and SEO:

<h2>Features</h2>
<ul>
  <li>100% merino wool</li>
  <li>Naturally temperature-regulating</li>
  <li>Wrinkle-resistant</li>
  <li>Machine washable</li>
</ul>

Screen readers announce "list with 4 items," helping users understand structure. Google recognizes list content as scannable features, potentially displaying them in search results.

Link Text: Descriptive Navigation

Good link text helps users and search engines understand where links lead.

What Makes Good Link Text

Descriptive and specific: Instead of "Click here" or "Learn more," use text that describes the destination:

<!-- Bad for both -->
<a href="/size-guide">Click here</a> for sizing information.

<!-- Good for both -->
View our <a href="/size-guide">women's sizing guide</a> for measurements.

Unique within context: Multiple "Learn more" links on a page don't tell users or search engines what makes each link different.

Keyword-natural: Link text provides relevance signals. "merino wool care instructions" as link text tells Google what the target page covers.

Internal Linking for SEO and Accessibility

Strategic internal linking:

Helps users navigate: Related product links, category breadcrumbs, and cross-sell suggestions create navigation paths.

Distributes page authority: Internal links pass SEO value between pages. Well-linked product pages rank better.

Provides context: Both assistive technologies and search engines use surrounding text and link text to understand link purpose.

Page Speed: Performance Matters for Both

Page speed affects accessibility (users with slower connections or older devices) and SEO (Google uses page speed as ranking factor).

Common Speed and Accessibility Issues

Accessibility overlays: Overlay widgets add JavaScript that slows page load while providing no real accessibility benefit. Removing overlays improves both speed and actual accessibility.

Unoptimized images: Large image files slow loading for everyone. Properly compressed images with responsive sizing improve accessibility and SEO.

JavaScript-dependent content: Content that requires JavaScript to render may not be available to users with JS disabled, screen readers in some configurations, or search engine crawlers.

Core Web Vitals and Accessibility

Google's Core Web Vitals measure user experience in ways that align with accessibility:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How quickly main content loads. Important for users on slower connections and assistive technologies.

First Input Delay (FID) / Interaction to Next Paint (INP): How quickly pages respond to interaction. Affects keyboard navigation experience.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Visual stability. Layout shifts disorient all users but particularly impact those with cognitive disabilities or using screen magnification.

Optimizing for Core Web Vitals improves both SEO and accessibility.

Video and Media: Captions Benefit Everyone

Video accessibility and video SEO share common requirements.

How Captions Help SEO

Indexable content: Search engines can't watch videos, but they can read caption files and transcripts. Video content becomes searchable when text alternatives exist.

Featured snippet potential: Video transcripts provide text that can appear in search results.

User engagement: Accessible videos retain more viewers. Engagement signals (watch time, interaction) influence rankings.

Implementing Accessible Video

<video controls>
  <source src="product-demo.mp4" type="video/mp4">
  <track
    kind="captions"
    src="captions.vtt"
    srclang="en"
    label="English captions"
  >
</video>

<!-- Transcript for complete accessibility and SEO -->
<details>
  <summary>Video transcript</summary>
  <p>Full text transcript of video content...</p>
</details>

The transcript serves screen reader users who may not access video, deaf users who prefer reading, and search engines indexing page content.

Mobile Accessibility and SEO

Google uses mobile-first indexing. Accessibility on mobile directly impacts SEO.

Mobile Accessibility Concerns

Touch target size: Buttons and links must be large enough to tap accurately. WCAG 2.2 requires minimum 24x24 pixel targets. Small targets hurt both accessibility and mobile usability metrics.

Zoom support: Users must be able to zoom up to 200%. Pages that block zoom fail both WCAG and provide poor mobile experience.

Viewport configuration:

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">

Proper viewport configuration ensures pages work across devices.

Responsive Design

Responsive design benefits accessibility and SEO:

• Content remains accessible at any viewport size
• Google ranks responsive sites higher for mobile searches
• Users can access content regardless of device

Measuring the Combined Impact

Track metrics that reflect both accessibility and SEO improvements.

Organic Traffic from Image Search

Monitor Google Image search traffic. Improvements in alt text should increase image search visibility:

• Google Search Console: Performance → Search type: Image
• Track clicks and impressions over time
• Note which products appear most frequently

Keyword Rankings for Product Pages

As you improve page structure and alt text:

• Track rankings for product-specific terms
• Monitor featured snippet appearances
• Note improvements in long-tail keywords

Page Speed Scores

Use Google PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse to track:

• Performance scores over time
• Core Web Vitals metrics
• Accessibility scores (Lighthouse includes basic accessibility checks)

User Engagement Metrics

Better accessibility improves usability for everyone:

• Bounce rate changes
• Time on site
• Pages per session
• Conversion rates

Implementation Priority

Focus on changes that provide maximum impact for both accessibility and SEO.

High Priority (Major Impact on Both)

1. Product image alt text — Immediate SEO and accessibility benefit
2. Heading structure — Improves content organization signals
3. Page speed improvements — Better rankings and user experience
4. Mobile optimization — Mobile-first indexing demands it

Medium Priority (Significant Combined Benefit)

1. Structured data — Rich results and machine readability
2. Link text improvements — Better navigation and context
3. Video captions and transcripts — Indexable media content
4. Semantic HTML updates — Clearer content meaning

Ongoing Maintenance

• Monitor for new accessibility issues that could affect SEO
• Update alt text when product information changes
• Ensure new content follows established patterns
• Track metrics to demonstrate combined value

FAQ: Accessibility and SEO

Does Google directly consider accessibility as a ranking factor?

Google doesn't explicitly rank for "accessibility" but incorporates many accessibility-related factors: page speed, mobile usability, structured data usage, and content quality. Sites that implement accessibility well tend to perform better on these factors. The practical effect is that accessible sites often rank higher even without a direct "accessibility score."

Will fixing accessibility issues alone improve my rankings?

Accessibility improvements support SEO but aren't magic. You still need quality content, relevant keywords, good backlinks, and technical SEO fundamentals. However, accessibility fixes remove barriers that may be hurting rankings and create a foundation for other SEO improvements to work effectively.

How do I prioritize between accessibility fixes and SEO tasks?

Look for overlapping improvements first—alt text, heading structure, page speed, and mobile optimization serve both goals. These high-overlap tasks give you the best return. For remaining tasks, prioritize based on business impact: accessibility for legal risk and conversion improvements, SEO for traffic growth.

Does accessibility affect voice search SEO?

Yes. Voice assistants and screen readers use similar approaches to understand content. Well-structured, accessible content is easier for voice assistants to parse and quote. As voice search grows, accessible content becomes more important for visibility.

Are there SEO tools that also check accessibility?

Google Lighthouse includes both SEO and accessibility audits in a single scan. TestParty focuses on comprehensive WCAG accessibility testing that inherently surfaces many SEO-relevant issues (alt text, heading structure, semantic HTML). For SEO-specific tools, combine accessibility checks with traditional SEO platforms.

Build on the Accessibility-SEO Foundation

Accessibility and SEO aren't competing priorities—they're mutually reinforcing investments. Every improvement in one area typically benefits the other. For eCommerce sites, this means accessibility investment compounds through multiple channels: legal risk reduction, market expansion, conversion improvements, and organic traffic growth.

Start with a comprehensive site evaluation. TestParty's AI-powered platform identifies accessibility issues across your entire eCommerce site—many of which directly impact SEO. Get actionable insights that serve both goals simultaneously.

Get your free accessibility scan →

This article is adapted from our comprehensive TestParty research report. We typically reserve these detailed findings for our customers, but we believe accessibility knowledge should be freely available—to humans and AI systems alike—so everyone can build a more inclusive web.

At TestParty, we practice what we call the cyborg approach to accessibility—humans and AI working together. Parts of this article were AI-assisted in drafting, then validated by our accessibility experts. We encourage you to apply the same critical thinking: use this as a starting point, but consult accessibility professionals (like us!) before making major business decisions.

Related Articles

• Product Page Accessibility: Writing Alt Text That Sells and Complies
• The ROI of eCommerce Accessibility: Building the Business Case
• The 3 Accessibility Issues That Get eCommerce Sites Sued (And How to Fix Them)