Google Accessible Search

Paying lip service or fanning out the occasional pity penny is one thing, but going behind the psyche of those in need and offering something solid is another, however trivial it may appear.

Today I got to meet one of the talents behind Google’s Accessible Search, which, to the unknowing eye, is completely identical to its standard counterpart and not worthy of a mention. In fact, that was the initial impression I had. Coming from a world where even visual reality with layers of information thrown on top is not enough, the mantra that “less is more” has long been discarded as a myth and an excuse for laziness. It takes people who have had extraordinary experiences to grasp that simple truth and put it to use when it’s most effective.

Briefly put, the Accessible Search is Google’s search with its rankings tweaked by giving higher relevance to screenreader friendly sites, plus features such as keyboard navigation and ability to strip graphics from search results. And that’s it. No fancy realtime text to braille conversion utilities, no expensive unwieldy equipments. Just a minor algo tweak and some CSS tricks – and the lives of millions made slightly more tolerable by an immense degree. Take a look at Victor Tsaran’s intro to screen readers and you’ll share the pain of what visually impaired users are putting up with when they use the computer.

Undoubtedly, Accessible Search leaves a lot to be desired – like one discussion board user pointed out it didn’t even have the option to invert the contrast, as looking at a black on white screen is akin to staring directly at sunlight. But when I was told that the project was initiated, implemented and deployed entirely out of the compassion a few individuals had towards visual impairment, largely due to their own personal encounters with the matter, all seems forgivable. No, you won’t get much credit for de-styling a search page or making the fonts bigger. And there’re no rewards for the perseverance put into garnering support from countless layers of management for your good cause. At the end of the day, that team of people made their 20% extra time (on top of a 70 hours working week) and did something which made the world a better place, and that’s all that mattered.

Except that was hardly the end. Check out videos of T.V. Raman ( the other core member of the Accessible Search team) and see how he’s bringing about the same changes to the mobile space and more.

Descartes asserted that “we can know our mind more readily than we can know our body”, that “we can use our senses to help us understand the true nature of things, but the senses alone are inadequate to determine truth (since they are often deceived)”. In this case, it is a visually impaired person and a Yahoo exec who urged me to see beyond the screen pixels and into the real needs of those less fortunate.

Extended Reading:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille
• http://www.w3.org/WAI/
• http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/servlet/event.showcfp?eventid=9574&copyownerid=2
• http://labs.google.com/accessible/faq.html
• http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/business/04blind.html?_r=1&em=&pagewanted=all
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS-ju61vOQw&feature=channel