Does anybody know which of the big search engines support the WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) www.w3.org/WAI/Resources/ for access for disabled persons to the web?

thx

Hi wuerfel thank you for your question.
Many of us here are well aware of the problems faced by folks with disabilities and agree with the fact that web developers alone cannot make the Web accessible...
many of us strive to.

As far as the search engines go, I believe that is also a goal, however - adhering to it is not *enforced* or even easy to do.

Have you tried to find an exclusive directory or search engine that will list ONLY websites that do adhere?

Adding - I realise this must be frustrating for you, because I don't have a direct answer for you, but rather wish that you will give examples of your needs, so we all can learn .

I do know that your question is a consideration for the likes of google etc.

Can you tell us more?

I have tried to design my website to W3C standards. You can find the URL in my profile. I have validated the following.

HTML 4.01
CSS
WAI-A-WCAG1

I have worked hard to learn about the W3C standards and incorporate them into my designs.
The problem I have is that when researching my competitors, I have found that even though they show the W3C logos, when you actually check their sites manually, they dont actually pass the validating process. This is very frustrating as I am sure you will agree.
So even though one day someone may create a search engine that only indexes W3C compliant websites, it would take a huge effort to make sure that everyone showing the W3C logos were telling the truth.

This was also discussed within the ODP at various times, and has been mentioned in external forums before. The consensus was that the ODP is not the "web police" for standards matters.

However that said, the system will not let you even list an RSS feed unless the format does validate to W3C standards - so that's a start.