Google to Offer Search for the Blind

Google, the world's top search engine, is running tests of a specialized search mechanism that will enable blind or visually impaired people to access information more easily and efficiently on the Web.

T.V. Raman, a blind research scientist with Google is the creator of the new system.

Google Accessible Search has been made publicly available on Google's software test site. It uses a combination of the Mountain View, Calif.-based firm's traditional page-ranking process and a system that ranks sites' functionality based on the simplicity of design as well as consistent labeling of information on pages, among other factors.

According to Raman, pages with detailed graphical setups that squeeze a large quantity of information onto pages are extremely difficult for blind or visually impaired users to successfully navigate. People who use screen magnifiers to enlarge sections of webpages have a tough time locating specific information on complex graphical sites, and blind users who employ screen readers to turn text into digitized voices are hard put to locate relevant information in a reasonable time on such pages.

Raman, a former IBM Research employee, also mentioned that related research could help Google to offer search systems designed for people with specific disabilities.

Raman had also been careful to specify that there is no "good" or "bad" in terms of website accessibility.

"How accessible or how inaccessible a webpage, from a user's perspective, is a really relative question," he said.

In an attempt to explain this new system, Google said, "In the past, visually impaired Google users have often waded through a lot of inaccessible websites and pages to find the required information."

"Our goal is to provide a more useful and accessible web search experience for the blind and visually impaired."

"We take into account several factors, including a given page's simplicity, how much visual imagery it carries and whether or not its primary purpose is immediately viable with keyboard navigation," said Google.

These efforts have been welcome by the blind community which in the past has accused the search giant of unnecessarily excluding them from using many of its services.