Accessibility as a ranking factor: How accessibility improves visibility on Google

Web accessibility is often seen purely as a social or legal issue. But accessibility is much more: it directly impacts user experience, technical quality, and search engine optimization (SEO). Increasing evidence shows that accessible websites achieve better rankings in the long term – even if Google does not explicitly list accessibility as a separate ranking factor.

In this article, you will learn why accessibility strengthens SEO, which factors are particularly relevant, and how to leverage accessibility to improve your visibility on Google.

What Does Accessibility Mean in the SEO Context?

Web accessibility means that websites can be used by all people – regardless of limitations such as visual, hearing, motor, or cognitive impairments.

In the SEO context, this primarily involves:

• clear, semantic HTML structures

• understandable navigation and content

• good readability and contrast

• full keyboard accessibility

• correct use of text alternatives (alt texts)

All these points closely overlap with the criteria Google uses to evaluate websites.

Is Accessibility an Official Google Ranking Factor?

In short: No – but indirectly yes.

Google does not explicitly list accessibility as a separate ranking factor. However, Google evaluates websites based on many signals that can be directly improved through accessible measures, including:

• User experience (UX)

• Content structure and clarity

• Crawlability and indexing

• Time on site and user interaction

• Technical quality of the website

Accessibility thus acts as a multiplier for existing ranking factors.

Why Accessible Websites Can Achieve Better Rankings

1. Semantic HTML Improves Crawling

Accessible websites use clean, semantic HTML:

• <nav> for navigation

• <main> for main content

• <header>, <footer>, <section> and <article>

This structure helps both screen readers and Google crawlers to better understand and classify content. Result: more accurate indexing and improved relevance evaluation.

2. Understandable Content = Better User Signals

Accessibility promotes:

• clear language

• logical heading hierarchies

• short paragraphs

• descriptive link texts

These factors improve readability for all users and often lead to:

• longer time on site

• lower bounce rates

• higher engagement

These positive user signals have been shown to improve SEO performance.

3. Alt Texts and Media Accessibility Boost Visibility

Accessible websites use meaningful alt texts for images. These are essential for:

• screen reader users

• Google image search

• thematic understanding of a page

Properly used alt texts thus improve both accessibility and organic reach.

4. Mobile Usability and Core Web Vitals

Accessibility and mobile usability go hand in hand:

• sufficiently large click areas

• clear navigation

• good contrasts

• understandable content

All of this improves the user experience on mobile devices – a key ranking factor since Google’s mobile-first indexing. Additionally, accessible structures often positively impact the Core Web Vitals.