RE: Query systems (e.g. search engines): a proposal on specific a cces sibility guidelines

> I'm pretty sure
> that organizations like Google and AltaVista would take a 
> simple proposal
> from the W3C seriously, especially if there's something in it 
> that can be
> implemented very simply.

I wouldn't be so sure. A quick glance at the source for Google's home page
reveals the following

*use of absolute font sizes
*use of deprecated html
*use of table for layout with no summary attribute
*no label tag for the text input field

I would put these things in the "implemented very simply category".

Julian

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jukka Korpela [mailto:jukka.korpela@tieke.fi]
> Sent: Monday, March 04, 2002 9:33 AM
> To: 'w3c-wai-ig@w3.org'
> Subject: Query systems (e.g. search engines): a proposal on specific
> acces sibility guidelines
> 
> 
> The importance of query systems like search engines and 
> database queries is
> well known. Their use is often highly interactive, requiring 
> the user to
> work with largish amounts of data in the query results. This 
> makes their
> accessibility very important. Yet, such systems often return 
> results in a
> format which is difficult to use, especially to the blind.
> 
> With the help of several people, I've composed a proposal on 
> principles that
> could be recommended to query system implementors and maintainers:
> http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/forms/qdfa.html
> 
> It suggests the "minimal recommendation" to include a link to 
> the start of
> query results proper into the beginning of a results page. 
> This should be
> very easy to implement and would help quite a lot. Then it 
> proposes some
> principles on the general structure of result pages (mainly 
> to be considered
> when designing new systems, of course) as well as the use of 
> headings and
> accesskeys.
> 
> I wonder if it would be possible to discuss the proposal 
> here, and maybe, if
> a consensus can be found, try to get some "W3C stamp" on it. 
> I'm pretty sure
> that organizations like Google and AltaVista would take a 
> simple proposal
> from the W3C seriously, especially if there's something in it 
> that can be
> implemented very simply.
> 
> -- 
> Jukka Korpela
> TIEKE Tietoyhteiskunnan kehittämiskeskus ry
> Finnish Information Society Development Centre 
> Salomonkatu 17 A, 10th floor, FIN - 00100 HELSINKI, FINLAND
> Phone: +358 9 4763 0397 Fax: +358 9 4763 0399 
> http://www.tieke.fi  jukka.korpela@tieke.fi
> 
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Received on Monday, 4 March 2002 04:54:51 UTC