[gui-talk] a search engine for the blind

Wed Jul 26 21:09:29 CDT 2006

Hi,

this isn't a personal rejoinder to the message below, and certainly not a 
challengeto it.  But I'm moved to hoped to have implied in earlier messages 
on this topic, before we indulge ourselves in railing against the misguided 
efforts of Google, we might do well to click on the FAQ link of that search 
engine's home page and read their explanation of the purposes and standards 
that informed their design of this search's algorithms. Then, we might begin 
to think about the W3C and other equally influential standard setters of 
blind Web accessibility.  Then we might ponder whether the design guidelines 
the W3C provides to well-meaning parties like Google are themselves 
reflective of our actual navigational needs and responsive to our actual Web 
navigational problems.

I could go on and give examples of sites I use frequently and am not hassled 
by in terms of accessibility, which this algorithm would nonetheless either 
place far down in its search results ranking or just omit entirely.  I think 
that if they can't refine their search engine's quite a lot, make them a lot 
more nuanced, then it's pretty much a wasteful effort and they should have 
spent a fraction of the time and money just cleaning up their own Web site 
and search interface.  Just as other are saying.

serarch engine to look for a CD,itim From: "Wayne Merritt" 
<wcmerritt at austin.rr.com>
To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 6:42 PM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] a search engine for the blind

While I'm all for an "accessible" search engine, who's to say that what's
"accessible" for Google is really accessible for me? It seems that the words
accessible and usable are developing different definitions, in terms of web
access. In other words, a site can be accessible but not usable by a blind
person. Like others, I think that in defining what really is accessible,
Google might very well leave out the one site I'm looking for. Its nice to
see them give some thought to accessibility though. If only we could steer
them more towards making some of their other products, like the side bar and
desktop options for the Google Desktop Search utility, more accessible and
usable by the blind.

Wayne
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
To: "NFB in Computer Science List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>; "NFBnet GUI Talk
Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 10:08 AM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] a search engine for the blind

> What do others think about this special Google search engine for the
> blind?  I really don't want someone deciding for me what I am capable of
> reading or navigating
> when I am looking for something on a search site.  I will even go a step
> further and say that I don't understand Google spending time on this at
> the expense of
> working to solve other accessibility problems on their site.Can someone
> tell me what I'm missing here?  I understand that nothing is stopping me
> from using the
> regular search engine, but I just don't understand what is so neat about
> this.
>
> On Wed, 26 Jul 2006 09:58:03 -0400, Sherri wrote:
>
>>I ran across this article in a weekly newsletter I receive. I haven't
>>tried
>>this site yet, but thought this might be of interest. The link to get to
>>the
>>entire article is at the bottom of this e-mail.
>
>>Sherri
>>> A Search Engine For The Blind: Google Unveils Accessible Web ...
>
>>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>>by Chris Sabga
>>Infopackets Gazette
>>Infopackets Contributor
>
>>Google has just unveiled Accessible Web Search, a search engine for the
>>visually-challenged. Here's how it works: Regular Google sorts search
>>results primarily by how relevancy, but Accessible Search takes it a step
>>further by also listing pages will that will be easy for the blind to
>>navigate. To meet Google's Accessible Web Search criteria, a web Site has
>>to be "visually simple." That means it ...
>>... Click to read the rest of the article (and our most recent articles)
>>online:
>
>>http://www.infopackets.com/channels/en/windows/gazette/2006/20060726_a_search_engine_for_the_blind_google_unveils_accessible_web_search.htm
>
>>    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>>_______________________________________________
>>gui-talk mailing list
>>gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> gui-talk mailing list
> gui-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk
>

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