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

[Rose Combs]

My question is why should we have to keep changing modes, using different
cursors to accomplish something that a sighted person can do with a mouse in
a nanosecond.  

I had used the Accessible Google page at work for years, and now suddenly it
is gone and now when I do a search I have so much garbage to get through
before I find my results that it is hardly worth it.  I just want my simple
search and simple results pages, especially at work where I am generally
searching for medical equipment or medications, cancer trials etc.  I don't
want ads, I don't want to have to wade through over half a page of junk to
find 10 results that because I don't know how to spell what I am looking
for, why else would I be looking, discover that what I got were people's
you-tube pages or blogs when what I want is a manufacturer site or a drug
store site.  

For that alone I am upset with Google for doing away with the accessible
page.  At home I don't care usually but at work I need to be fast and true,
I don't have time to look through junk, not with the production standers
they push out, I cannot spend 15 minutes or more looking for something and
with Accessible Google, I never did, less than two or three usually.  

I still use it, but if I found something with as much going for it that was
a simple interface I'd be using it for work at least.  

Why the heck did they take it away is what I want to know.  



Rose Combs
rosecombs at Q.com


-----Original Message-----
From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Steve Jacobson
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 2:30 PM
To: Discussion of the Graphical User Interface, GUI Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Google Search Settings Page No Longer Accessible

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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