Google Launches Central Accessibility Resources Site

Google is one of the largest web companies in the world but despite its size it has managed to avoid many of the pitfalls and isn't a money-hungry corporation yet. The company's motto since its inception has been “Don't be evil” and it has maintained its image through the charity work it's doing or the investment in green technology. Another area where the company aims to make a difference is with its own services, which it has tried to make available to as many people as possible. It is now focusing those efforts with a new website, www.google.com/accessiblity, which will house all of Google's projects related to accessibility.

“Information access is at the core of Google’s mission, which is why we work to make the world's content available to people with disabilities, such as blindness, visual impairment, color deficiency, deafness, hearing loss and limited dexterity. Building accessible products isn't only the right thing to do, it also opens up Google services to very significant populations of people. According to the United Nations, 650 million people live with a disability, which makes them the world's largest minority,” Jonas Klink, accessibility product manager at Google, wrote.

The company is working on bringing accessibility features to a number of its products but also to the web in general. Just recently it has launched the Talking RSS Reader for Android-powered smartphones, a tool designed to make keeping up with news on the go a lot easier but also to aid those who can't see stay informed. Google also released the source code for the product to allow others to introduce the talking feature to their Android apps.

Google also notes its efforts for integrating WAI-ARIA features into its Chrome web browser. The project aims to make the web and especially rich Internet applications more accessible to people with disabilities through a number of means. Now the company has launched the Accessibility at Google website to bring all of these projects and resources together but also to serve as a central discussions location for all things relating to accessibility. The site is rather basic at the moment but Google says that it will gradually add more functionality and information.