[gui-talk] Google Search Settings Page No Longer Accessible

Wed Dec 14 21:56:10 UTC 2011

Well, for what it's worth, I cannot manipulate the sliders from the keyboard.  Even with IE imulation it doesn't work.

Sincerely,
The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!

Now a very proud and happy Mac user!!!

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barefootedray

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On Dec 14, 2011, at 3:29 PM, Steve Jacobson wrote:

> Mike,
> 
> Thank you for the reminder about hos these work.  With Window-Eyes and Internet Explorer 8, I turned 
> browse mode off and then on after pressing ENTER on Options, and they then appeared.  I also found the 
> "slider" that changes the number of results shown.  I routed the Window-Eyes mouse pointer to the slider 
> and then pressed right arrow until I got to the number I wanted and then clicked on it to make the 
> change.  The predictive search can also be turned off on this page.
> 
> This is the kind of thing that makes our lives complicated.  This is certainly less convenient, and I 
> find myself really wondering what has been gained.  Besides screen readers, I don't think these sliders 
> can be manipulated from the keyboard, although I need to investigate that more.  Yet, because of how 
> they work, it probably would not be that hard to develop Window-Eyes apps or JFW scripts to make this 
> easier to handle.  If these are new controls that are pretty common, expecting our screen readers to 
> handle them is not unreasonable.  If they are controls specific only to certain Google pages, then it 
> seems less reasonable in that screen readers can't keep up with every control anyone can think of even 
> if scripting is possible.  This is definitely a gray area in some ways, and I would also like to hear 
> more what Google has to say about these before making the kinds of claims some are making here.  Whether 
> we like it or not, some of the problem is that the web has changed faster than screen readers can keep 
> up but there have been efforts to make new constructs accessible.  We just don't know for certain at 
> this point what is involved here.  Those having trouble with the search page should go to this page, 
> find the predictive search slider, route the mouse or "JAWS cursor" to it and click on OFF.  I found 
> that I had to clidk on the Save button with the mouse rather than the SPACE BAR as well, but possibly 
> ENTER would have worked.  I don't know for sure.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Steve Jacobson
> 
> On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:47:10 -0800, Mike Freeman wrote:
> 
>> I did some experimentation this morning and, as I suspected, things aren't quite as simple and cut-and-
> dried as most on this list are painting them. In particular, those who are fulminating against Google 
> should pay close attention to the below as it illustrates perfectly why caution is in order and why 
> venting one's spleen because something is supposedly not accessible may, in fact, be either operator 
> error or the inability of one's screen-reading technology to handle a perfectly legitimate web 
> construct.
> 
>> Using JAWS 12 and IE7 from my work computer, I saw what seemed to me a "normal" Google search page. 
> Below the "Search" and "I'm Feeling Lucky" buttons was an "Options" link. JAWS 12 showed it as a link. 
> As Steve says below, clicking on the link seems to accomplish nothing. However, this is not the case. If 
> one arrows down after hitting the "Options" link, one finds that the page has expanded to include a 
> bunch of new links including one to go to SPreferences and thence to earch Settings where there are 
> constructs to set all the parameters we're used to.
> 
>> I haven't checked this at home with JAWS 13 and IE8 yet but I know that this "Options" construct below 
> the search says "Has pop-up" which presumably means that clicking on it (hitting ENTER) expands the page 
> as described above. I'll test this later today when I'm home.
> 
>> So before blaming everyone and everything, it's always a good idea to ask lots of questions and 
> experiment a bit and always be ready to be adaptable and acknowledge that something new (but not 
> necessarily inaccessible) is going on.
> 
>> Incidentally, anyone who has searched Microsoft's security pages for product bulletins will have 
> encountered this "pop-up" construct as it's been around all 2011.
> 
>> Mike Freeman
> 
> 
>> On Dec 14, 2011, at 12:09, "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com> wrote:
> 
>>> I'm a bit confused here.  I see that there are differences on the search page of Google and that 
> there 
>>> is no "screen reader" link, but I am not noticing any real differences in the search.  Am I missing 
>>> something?
>>> 
>>> I am not able to find a link to get to the search options, though.  There is an "options" link that 
> for 
>>> me does not seem to do anything.  From what I have read, I understand that there are changes there 
> that 
>>> are not good but am wondering how people are getting there.
>>> 
>>> Best regards,
>>> 
>>> Steve Jacobson
>>> 
>>> On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:02:28 -0800, hawkeye wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I have had sighted assistance on this.  This is no line to check for
>>>> screenreaders.  There once was but there isn't now.  Been to the start up
>>>> page, been to the homesite, there is no line for screenreaders. 
>>> 
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>>> Behalf Of Gerald Levy
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 2:29 PM
>>>> To: Discussion of the Graphical User Interface, GUI Talk Mailing List
>>>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Google Search Settings Page No Longer Accessible
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> This is all well and good if all you want to do is turn off Google Instant. 
>>>> But what if you want to change the number of search results per page from
>>>> the default of 10 to 20 or 50?  Or specify that each search result opens in
>>>> a new browser window?  Apparently, there is no longer any way to accomplish
>>>> this.
>>> 
>>>> Gerald
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Jude DaShiell" <jdashiel at shellworld.net>
>>>> To: "Discussion of the Graphical User Interface, GUI Talk Mailing List" 
>>>> <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 5:10 PM
> 
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