15 October 2006
More Accessible Searching
For those with visual impairment, Google offers a search engine to help. While Google's Accessible Search appears very similar to the normal Google Search, there is a major difference. The search specifically looks for sites that are more accessible for the blind and visually impaired. It specifically looks at the HTML to find pages that have few visual distractions and will load well with images disabled.
How can a person make a website more accessible is the next question?
One of the first ways is to use style sheets and to avoid using the FONT element. This can enable viewers to better control the appearance of the page to suit their needs while still giving the developer full control over the general way the page looks. For people who have disabled images possible because of using text based browsers or just to help them read the page better, providing a text equivalent to the image is very helpful. This can be presented to viewers using braille, screen readers or people who can read the text.
Also making pages that can be read by people with no mice, small screens, low resolution screens, as well as no screens and only text or voice output will make a page more accessible. Making the content of the page easy to understand and navigate is something many pages lack, but will help the accessibility of a page.
For a complete list of guidelines that can make a page more accessible visit the W3C.
How can a person make a website more accessible is the next question?
One of the first ways is to use style sheets and to avoid using the FONT element. This can enable viewers to better control the appearance of the page to suit their needs while still giving the developer full control over the general way the page looks. For people who have disabled images possible because of using text based browsers or just to help them read the page better, providing a text equivalent to the image is very helpful. This can be presented to viewers using braille, screen readers or people who can read the text.
Also making pages that can be read by people with no mice, small screens, low resolution screens, as well as no screens and only text or voice output will make a page more accessible. Making the content of the page easy to understand and navigate is something many pages lack, but will help the accessibility of a page.
For a complete list of guidelines that can make a page more accessible visit the W3C.
Labels: accessibility, Google, internet, search
