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

Fri Dec 16 21:29:12 UTC 2011

Rose,

Are you speaking of a different page other than http://www.google.com/accessibility/

On Dec 16, 2011, at 2:55 PM, Rose Combs wrote:

> 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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> 
> 
> 
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