T.V. Raman posted to the Google Blog about new enhancements to the Accessible Search. An Advanced Search feature is now part of the interface and gives the same options as the regular Advanced Search.
In addition, the algorithm “continues to take into account and give higher priority to pages that are more easily accessible by the visually impaired.”
We knew that the algorithm already favored pages that degraded gracefully for text readers, using standards-based measurements to determine the accessibility of a page. It seems as though improvements to the algorithm rely on even more structural mark-up features.
The accessible search features now allow advanced search features such as;
• restrict search to portions of a page, e.g., the title
• restrict search to results in a given language
• restrict searches to web pages found during a given time period
• restrict searches to content in a given file format
It is great to see Google being so quick to add features and do so much based on user feedback. According to Dr. Raman, “We get better when we know what works for the user and welcome user feedback on everything from improving taglines to adding new features.”
http://www.googlersblogs.com/node/4527
Great news Matt. Word on the search engine optimisation grapevine is that google is testing their own AI to further judge the accessibility of a websites re: font sizes, & graphics etc. It will be interesting if these will become part of a specialised horizontal search engine specifically for those with text/screen readers etc
Comment by Mobility Man — November 1, 2006 @ 3:05 am