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Uh, Oh For Web Sites

There is a lawsuit against Target.com in California under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The National Federation of the Blind is suing Target because it claims blind users are disadvantaged when using the Web site and they do not have the same accessibility to all it offers. Legally blind users often rely on alternative text for navigating a Web site.

At issue is equal access to the Internet economy for those who are blind. California has additional laws ensuring equal access. A judge has authorized a class action lawsuit for blind users in the state of California that have attempted to use the Target.com Web site and have been unable to.

Questions regarding what standards deem a site equally accessible exist. These standards still need to be defined but needless to say, the result of this case could have huge implications for every Web site out there!

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One Comment

IMHO, legal standards should only exist for official government sites. It’s crazy to start fining companies who run ecommerce sites and the like - real world shops may allow seeing eye dogs and perhaps some have hearing induction loops to help with certain functions, but essentially a disabled person has to browse the shelves like anyone else. If they can’t find or fondle the right item, then they can ask someone to help, just as ecommerce sites should provide a phone number and email address.

Internet startups often cannot afford a well designed site, let alone one that has been painstakingly tweaked to fit every non-binding accessibility notion that someone once had while in a self-important mood. Let them spend money on building their empire, providing timely fulfilment and well structured websites, and let the disabled use their own tools to find what they need. If a website reader cannot parse a site and properly read it aloud, then improve that software - FAR easier to enforce and improve than fining every site on the planet which doesn’t meet an imagined standard.

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