Google Accessible Search

Google has released a new version of their search engine, more accessible for blind people and visually impaired, reports ZDNet. Google Accessible Search, available at labs.google.com/accessible ranks higher the pages easier to digest, that have few visual distractions and work well with text-to-speech plug-ins. The page doesn't have ads, images, JavaScript or other new features like OneBox results.

"If you are listening to the page (via screen reader software), a lot of information can prevent you from finding what you are looking for," says T.V. Raman, who works for Google Accessible Search.

The new service is also useful for webmasters to test how accessible are their sites. As you can see, google.com is not accessible enough to rank high when searching for "Google" (see the screenshot) - google.com is ranked #73. That means, the results are more accessible, but also less relevant. At least, for now.

Also see:
Plain old Google search
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (W3C Recommendation)