Google Debuts Accessible Search

Accessible Search is a Google Labs product which will identify and prioritize search results that are more easily usable by blind and visually impaired users. Regular Google search helps you find a set of documents that are most relevant. Accessible Search modulates the results by helping you find the most accessible pages first in that result set.

In its current 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 — pages with few visual distractions and pages that are likely to render well with images turned off. Google Accessible Search is built on Google Co-op’s technology, which improves search results based on specialized interests.

Broadly, Google defines accessible websites and pages as content that the blind and visually challenged can use and consume using standard online technology, and we’ve worked with a number of organizations to determine which websites and pages meet those criteria. Our methods for identifying accessible pages and content are always evolving; Currently we take into account several factors, including a given page’s simplicity, how much visual imagery it carries and whether or not it’s primary purpose is immediately viable with keyboard navigation.

Some of the basic recommendations on how to make a website more useable and accessible include keeping Web pages easy to read, avoiding visual clutter — especially extraneous content — and ensuring that the primary purpose of the Web page is immediately accessible with full keyboard navigation. There are many organizations and online resources that offer Website owners and authors guidance on how to make websites and pages more accessible for the blind and visually impaired. The W3C publishes numerous guidelines including Web Content Access Guidelines that are helpful for Website owners and authors. Broad adherence to these guidelines is one way of ensuring that sites are universally accessible.

via Google FAQ

It has now become even more important for webmasters to follow accessibility guidelines. I applaud Google for their concern for blind and visually impaired users. On a different note do you know of any accessibility guidelines for AJAX applications?