Accessible Google?

Google has taken what many are saying is a giant step toward an accessible web. They have recently released a version of their search engine that has been specifically tailored to the blind community. Check it out here.

The search engine allows users of screen readers to locate web sites based on an accessibility ranking. Google uses various measures to determine if a web site is accessible to screen readers. As you may know Google currently uses a ranking system in their search results that is based on various criteria. There is an entire industry of search engine optimization experts that has sprung up to assist companies to assure they have significant placement in the rankings.

So, is this a good thing?

It is probably too soon to determine if this will help the quest for an accessible web. The fact that a company like Google is dedicating some resources to the issue, well that is definitely positive. When an industry leader begins to promote standards in design, others are bound to jump aboard.

Plessey v. Ferguson

I am referring to the case that declared separate but equal was legal in the United States. As it turned out, the equal part of the segregated south never actually   panned out. Some may wonder is this the beginning of a two World Wide Web society. One for sighted people and one for the blind. Let’s try a comparative search to see if the results are equal.

A search on the blind Google yields:
- Results 1 - 10 of about 14,300,000 for Boxing

And now for the sighted Google:
- Results 1 - 10 of about 118,000,000 for boxing

Wow, that’s a lot of inaccessibility!

Learning new ways to challenge.

I recently read an article   titled Budding programmers swap ideas with Gates. This profiles some talented college students from various countries who won the opportunity to share their projects with Microsoft’s Bill Gates. One of the featured contestants is a Brazilian development team who created vibrating wristbands that work with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and mapping technology to help blind people navigate their surroundings.

What a great way to get people interested in creating devices and other improvements for the greater good of all. Microsoft is not only marketing their development tools they are also challenging young people to think about utilizing technology for real world applications.

As a member of a newly formed local organization of visually impaired and blind people, I am motivated by the ideas presented in this article. Not just the technology featured, but more so the concepts that inspired the contest -- Challenging people to create with social consciousness.

I hope that our organization, the Monroe County Council of the Blind, can use creative methods to market our ideas and change the perceptions of visually impaired and
Blind people. We have several challenges ahead that include local awareness campaigns, countering the many stereotypes associated with blind people and challenging our membership to strive for their individual goals. I look forward to sharing more about this endeavor and especially our accomplishments in the future. It’s not very easy to take a task like educating the public on a topic such as blindness and other related issues. Well, frankly, the topic is not considered exciting enough to attract the desired attendance. After reading this article I am moving in the direction of finding solutions that have been applied to for profit business rather than thinking of this effort solely as a social issue. Should be interesting! Stay tuned.