Google Accessible Search
The early Beta version of Google's new Accessible Search, launched 20 July 2006, is an exciting concept. The aim is to prioritise keyword search results according to a web site's accessibility for people using screen readers.
The project is still in development: Google's Accessible Search 'test' page is not currently a good example of an accessible interface and the criteria used to determine a site's accessibility is continuing to evolve. However, it is an interesting development with potential to encourage wider adoption of accessibility and web standards, with benefits for all. The risk is that linking accessibility to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) means it is also open to misuse. Hopefully, Google's algorithms will be smart enough to detect this.
Once out of beta, and if the project is successful, it would also be nice to see accessibility checkpoints somehow integrated into the main Google Search algorithm as one of the criteria that Google uses to determine 'trusted' web sites. At the same time, it needs to be clear that inclusion in the Accessible Search results does not necessarily mean the site is fully accessible. That is, Google's ranking is not a certification that a site is accessible or an indication of the level of accessibility it offers.
What is Google Accessible Search?
Accessible Search is an early Google Labs product designed to identify and prioritise search results that are more easily usable by people who are blind or vision impaired. It is based on the regular Google search, in that it finds web sites that best match your search keywords. However, Accessible Search goes one step further by ranking accessible pages higher in the result set.
Google's goal
In the past, people with vision impairment have often waded through a lot of inaccessible web sites and pages to find the required information. Google's goal is to provide a more useful and accessible web search experience for people who are blind or have a vision impairment.
This approach has a two-fold benefit. It assists people with vision impairment to find the most relevant, useful, comprehensive and accessible information as quickly as possible, while encouraging web developers to make their sites more accessible, if they wish to rank well.
The Accessible Search results are also likely to be preferred by people with other disabilities, as it is more likely that these web sites will be designed to be universally accessible.
In addition, Google Accessible Search is likely to appeal to an even broader audience, as it aims to deliver pages that are generally more usable.
How does Accessible Search work?
Google Accessible Search is built on Google Co-op's technology, which improves search results based on specialised interests.
In its current Beta version, Google Accessible Search looks at a number of signals by examining the HTML markup found on a web page. It tends to favor pages that degrade gracefully, such as pages with few visual distractions and pages that are likely to render well with images turned off.
How does Google decide which sites are accessible and which are not?
Broadly speaking, Google defines accessible web sites and pages as content that people with vision impairments can access using standard online technology. This has been determined in consultation with a number of organisations and takes into account several factors, including simplicity, keyboard access and how much visual imagery the web site relies on to convey information. This process is in its early development and is continuing to evolve.
How can sites make their content more accessible?
The W3C publishes numerous guidelines including Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) that are helpful for web site owners and authors. Broad adherence to these guidelines is one way of ensuring that sites are universally accessible.
For more information and articles about web accessibility and usability see e-Bility Inclusive IT
Try it out
- Google Accessible Search (beta)
- Feedback email labs+accessible@google.com
Google links
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