Due to the enormous amount of information on the Internet today, search engines have become indispensable for finding specific and appropriate information. If we consider the useru27s task, two main search engine components are equally important to carry out a successful search: (I) the search process, which seeks the requested information and orders the results by relevance; and (II) the user interface, where the user types the query keywords and the search results are shown. Since individuals interact with the search tool to set up a search task and explore the results, it is essential that user interfaces be easy to use and accessible to all; this is particularly important for sightless users who, interacting via screen reader, perceive the page contents very differently and experience a much longer search time. In this study we describe a research project aimed at evaluating the accessibility and usability of several popular search tools available on the Web, in order to understand their limitations/drawbacks and propose improvements. By means of automatic checking, gathering user feedback, and a screen reader, we were able to identify the main accessibility and usability problems. We then defined and proposed specific guidelines for improving search engine user interface design. Finally, by applying these directives to the UIs of Google, a search engine which is commonly considered accessible and easy to use, we were able to demonstrate that accessibility can be greatly improved while the interface maintains the same visual appeal. Specifically, we modified the Google interfaces by adding specific "hidden features" that greatly improve navigation and the search activity via screen reader, but do not affect the navigation of sighted users.
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