25 August 2006

Google is aiming to assist the elderly and those with learning difficulties by improving the accessibility of its services.

Internet giant Google is currently collating user feedback in a bid to improve the accessibility of its Gmail and search engine websites.

The company's research scientist, TV Raman, claims that while good progress has been made recently, more can be done to provide users with invaluable help.

Mr Raman told internetnews.com: "There have been a lot of requests from people saying, 'So you've done this accessible search, but you've only done it for blind and visually-impaired users. What about other disabilities?' That's a very valid question."

The expert asserts that Internet users such as the elderly and colour-blind, who may not regard themselves as visually-impaired, still might find very busy sites hard to handle.

"There are a lot of things we could improve on … a lot of our newest services have accessibility issues," Mr Raman added.

Google's recently released accessible search service, designed for the visually impaired, was developed by Mr Raman and works by sorting search results according to the usability and accessibility of the site.

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