Apparatus and methods for filtering content based on accessibility to a user

• US 20020103914A1
• Filed: 01/31/2001
• Published: 08/01/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dutta, Rabindranath, Kamper, Robert J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,162,526 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/2895 Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data provider application, e.g. reverse proxies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/59 Providing operational support to end devices by off-loading in the network or by emulation, e.g. when they are unavailable
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for filtering content based on the accessibility of the content to a user are provided. The apparatus and methods make use of an evaluation tool that evaluates requested content for accessibility to users having special needs, such as handicapped or disabled users. The results of the evaluation are then compared to a user'"'"'s designation of a required accessibility level to determine if the content is accessible to the user. If the results of the evaluation indicate that the content meets the user'"'"'s required accessibility level, the content is provided to the user. If the evaluation indicates that the content does not meet the user'"'"'s required accessibility level, the content is not provided to the user or a not accessible indicator is appended to the content. In a further embodiment, the content may be modified to make the content accessible to the user.

Claims

1. A method of providing content to a client, comprising:

retrieving the content;

performing an evaluation of the content for accessibility by a user; and

providing the content to the client if a result of the evaluation meets an accessibility requirement for the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving the content includes performing a search of content providers.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the search of content providers is performed using a Web search engine.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein performing an evaluation of the content for accessibility by a user includes determining an accessibility level of the content based on accessibility criteria.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the accessibility criteria are established based on standardized accessibility guidelines.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein performing an evaluation of the content for accessibility by a user includes using an evaluation tool to perform the evaluation.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the evaluation tool is Bobby™

.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an indication to the client that the content does not meet accessibility requirements if the result of the evaluation is that the content does not meet the accessibility requirement for the user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the accessibility requirement for the user is obtained from a user profile.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is implemented on a proxy server.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is implemented on the client.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the content is at least one Web page.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying the content such that the content meets the accessibility requirement for the user.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein modifying the content includes changing values for tags in the content based on one of a rule set and an algorithm.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein performing the evaluation of the content for accessibility by the user includes logging elements of the content that do not meet accessibility criteria, and wherein modifying the content includes modifying logged elements to meet the accessibility criteria.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the means for retrieving the content includes means for performing a search of content providers.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the means for performing a search of content providers includes means for using a Web search engine.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the means for performing an evaluation of the content for accessibility by a user includes means for determining an accessibility level of the content based on accessibility criteria.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the accessibility criteria are established based on standardized accessibility guidelines.

21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the means for performing an evaluation of the content for accessibility by a user includes means for using an evaluation tool to perform the evaluation.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the evaluation tool is Bobby™

.

23. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising means for providing an indication to the client that the content does not meet accessibility requirements if the result of the evaluation is that the content does not meet the accessibility requirement for the user.

24. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the accessibility requirement for the user is obtained from a user profile.

25. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is associated with a proxy server.

26. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is associated with the client.

27. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the content is at least one Web page.

28. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising means for modifying the content such that the content meets the accessibility requirement for the user.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the means for modifying the content includes means for changing values for tags in the content based on one of a rule set and an algorithm.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the means for performing the evaluation of the content for accessibility by the user includes means for logging elements of the content that do not meet accessibility criteria, and wherein the means for modifying the content includes means for modifying logged elements to meet the accessibility criteria.

16. An apparatus of providing content to a client, comprising:

means for retrieving the content;

means for performing an evaluation of the content for accessibility by a user; and

means for providing the content to the client if a result of the evaluation meets an accessibility requirement for the user.

31. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for providing content to a client, comprising:

first instructions for retrieving the content;

second instructions for performing an evaluation of the content for accessibility by a user; and

third instructions for providing the content to the client if a result of the evaluation meets an accessibility requirement for the user.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the first instructions include instructions for performing a search of content providers.

33. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein the instructions for performing the search of content providers include instructions for using a Web search engine.

34. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the second instructions include instructions for determining an accessibility level of the content based on accessibility criteria.

35. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein the accessibility criteria are established based on standardized accessibility guidelines.

36. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the second instructions include instructions for using an evaluation tool to perform the evaluation.

37. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the evaluation tool is Bobby™

.

38. The computer program product of claim 31, further comprising fourth instructions for providing an indication to the client that the content does not meet accessibility requirements if a result of the second instructions is that the content does not meet the accessibility requirement for the user.

39. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the accessibility requirement for the user is obtained from a user profile.

40. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the computer program product is executed on a proxy server.

41. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the computer program product is executed on the client.

42. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the content is at least one Web page.

43. The computer program product of claim 31, further comprising fourth instructions for modifying the content such that the content meets the accessibility requirement for the user.

44. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the fourth instructions include instructions for changing values for tags in the content based on one of a rule set and an algorithm.

45. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the second instructions include instructions for logging elements of the content that do not meet accessibility criteria, and wherein the fourth instructions include instructions for modifying logged elements to meet the accessibility criteria.