Accessibility for people with disabilities remains a problem even on the highest-ranking websites on Google according to a new study by Searchmetrics.
While the best performing web pages are now leveraging cutting-edge tech and software to deliver high levels of security and speedy experiences, many are failing to implement technical optimisation which enables the visually impaired and blind to navigate.
Searchmetrics used open source tool Google Lighthouse to analyse websites that feature at the top of SERPs and found the sites in the top 20 positions only managed to muster a score of 66.6 out of 100 on average for accessibility.
Accessibility is defined by how a web page makes use of technical elements such as more visible buttons, images tagged with relevant descriptions and colour contrast. The findings show webmasters need to do more to improve aspects of copy, content, and UI to make pages easier to read and use for everyone.
“If you don’t make your site easily accessible to those with disabilities, including those with impaired vision, you cut yourself off of from a large group of visitors”,Searchmetrics Director of Marketing EMEA, Daniel Furch said.
He added: “Not only is it ethically a good idea to be inclusive, but also obviously you could be turning away potential customers.”
Searchmetrics’ ‘Lighthouse Ranking Factors 2019’ study also found that landing pages at the top of Google search results also load more quickly than pages occupying positions further down listings and that they “make more frequent use” of new web tech.
