Summary:
Google Accessible Web Search is a Google powered search of websites for the visually impaired. Google search engine results prioritize sites based on relevance.
Google Accessible Web Search uses relevance, but it also gives priority to pages that function well without images or will otherwise be more useful to the visually impaired. Some Web sites do equally well in both Google Accessible Web Search and in the standard Google search engine.
Location:
Cost:
Google Accessible Web Search is free.
Development Status:
Google Accessible Web search is in Google Labs.
Behind the Scenes:
Google Accessible Web Search uses information gathered from Google Co-op to prioritize sites that are more accessible.
Priority goes to sites that "degrade" well, which means they are not visually distracting, they can be navigated by keyboard, and they would tend to work well even without images.
Who Benefits:
Google Accessible Web Search is, of course, aimed at the visually impaired. However, that doesn't mean that others can't benefit from the search service. Commuters enjoy listening to audiobooks in the car, and people watch closed-captioned television at the gym. Many other services for the disabled end up being quite useful for the general public, too.
People with small monitors, older operating systems, or handheld computers may find Google Accessible Web Search results more appropriate for their devices.
