It might be a little unfair of me but I personally really, really disappointed at the way a web giant with serious engineering chops like Google has dealt with

It might be a little unfair of me but I personally really, really disappointed at the way a web giant with serious engineering chops like Google has dealt with the issue of accessibility. I take an admittedly purist view and say that we as developers should be striving to maintain the initial principles of the web in allowing everyone equal access to content. As more and more sites act as 'applications' and the web moves further and further away from static html I think the principle still holds - it just becomes more difficult. I really would have loved to see large web companies like Facebook and Google drive the focus on maintaining accessibility for all users. Instead we've seen exactly the opposite and for me the most disappointing part of it has been the way Google handles it - probably because I really have a soft spot for Google in all other situations. None of their web applications are accessible to any usable degree and they don't seem to be showing the slightest interest in improving their standard of offering. A few of their products attempt a half-arsed implementation of WAI-ARIA but they never seem to actually follow through on anything. It's as if they launch a new product and then all instantly wander off and start something new. Accessibility requires a pretty hefty chunk of maintenance and user feedback but the tools are there if companies invested in it.