Top Search Engines Offer More Accessible Searches

Hundreds of thousands of blind computer users regularly surf the Internet and top Internet companies, including AOL, Google, and Yahoo, are addressing this fact, despite the high prices involved to include such assistive technology.

According to the American Foundation for the Blind, roughly only 200,000 people who cannot see print at all have access to the Internet. This is in addition to the estimated 1.5 million users who have difficulty seeing with glasses that have access to the Web.

With the increasing amount of features on sites and complex programming involved, companies know they have to ensure accessibility if they want to retain and grow their vision impaired customer base. So what are top companies doing?

Google Inc. recently launched Google Accessible Search. This search tool ranks results based on the simplicity of the sites. Pages with numerous headings, appropriate numbers of pictures and text, and factors that make the pages easier to read with a screen reader have the highest ranking. The tool can be found at http://labs.google.com/accessible.

In the near future AOL plans to revise its current AOL Web Mail. The updated version will be more screen reader friendly. It will eliminate the need for screen reader users to switch to a text-only page.

When Yahoo Inc. redesigned their home page a couple of months ago, they made it more accessible by adding a large number of headings that allows low vision users to navigate sections much more smoothly than before.

New tools for developers will continue to have a positive impact on improving a broad range of sites. Microsoft Corporation will be releasing UI Automation with its Vista Operating System in the upcoming future. This new technology makes it simpler for screen readers to translate Web applications. Users will be able to use their screen readers to retrieve information about how many messages are in their inboxes without having to go through each message. They're also able to alert their browser about which links they have already visited on a page.

With technology improving and Internet companies offering new services, the number of blind users with access to the Internet is expected to continue growing. Internet companies' pushing themselves to be more accessible is just the beginning of a larger push to revise federal Web accessibility standards and legal efforts to get the guidelines adopted nationally wide. There are currently no Federal laws requiring all Web sites to be accessible to those with vision or other physical disabilities. SAMSA supports accessibility compliance and can help you make your site more accessible.