Does accessibility help SEO?

Yes, because a screen reader and a crawler read the same signals: heading hierarchy, link text, alt attributes, semantic elements, and whether content exists in the HTML at all. Accessibility is not a ranking factor by name, but most of its requirements are things search engines independently reward.

How do I test my website with a screen reader?

Install NVDA on Windows or turn on VoiceOver on a Mac — both are free — then navigate your site by headings and by links rather than reading it top to bottom. Ten minutes of that changes how you write markup permanently.

What size should tap targets be on mobile?

WCAG 2.2 AA requires at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with spacing so adjacent targets do not overlap. Platform guidance recommends more — around 44 by 44 — and on a real phone the larger figure is what stops people tapping the wrong thing.

Accessibility

Are placeholders the same as form labels?

No. A placeholder disappears the moment someone types, removing the label exactly when it is needed to check the answer. It usually fails contrast requirements too, and some assistive technology ignores it entirely. It is a hint, never a label.

Answered by Anas Bin Masud 179 words 3 sections

What a real label requires

A label element with a for attribute matching the input id
Visible text, positioned above or beside the field rather than inside it
Text that stays visible while the field is being filled and after
Clicking the label focuses the field, which also enlarges the target area

Why placeholder-only forms feel fine in testing

Because the person testing already knows what each field is for. The failure appears with a real user filling in an unfamiliar form, checking their answers before submitting, and finding four boxes with no indication of what any of them contain.

If a button reads "Send message", its accessible name must contain those words. An aria-label of "Submit" over visible text saying "Send message" breaks voice control — the user says what they see and nothing happens.

The longer version

This answer is deliberately short. If you want the full treatment, Website accessibility, without the compliance theatre covers it in about 5 minutes — free, ungated, written from client work.

Who answered this

Anas Bin Masud builds e-commerce sites and does technical SEO for businesses in the UK, Canada and Pakistan — fifteen live client sites, six of them stores taking real payments. These answers come from those projects rather than from a content brief. More about how I work, or ask me something directly.