An apparatus and method for searching a database of web site functional characteristics to identify web sites that are compatible with designated functions are provided. With the apparatus and method, a database of functional characteristics is compiled and a search interface is provided. The database may be compiled in an automatic, manual, or semiautomatic manner by, for example, retrieving web site content with various functions of a web browser disabled and analyzing the resultant output through the web browser. With the search interface, a user may enter designations of the functional characteristics that the user is either interested in having or not having in the resultant list of web sites. Based on the user's designation of functional characteristics, the search engine associated with the search interface searches the database of web sites and identifies the web site entries in the database that are compatible with the designated functional characteristics. The search engine then provides a listing of these web site entries through a search output interface which may then be used by the user that requested the search.