The retailer, Target Corporation, has been targeted (9/2006) in a lawsuit filed by the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) in a California federal court for inability of a blind person to access the company's web site (Target.com) and not being in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The initial suit was fairly broad in its denial of service complaint. Some of the claims were dismissed, however the law suit was allowed to continue on the remaining merits of the allegations (according to Realtor.org article, see below for link):
1. ADA does not necessary apply just to physical places of public accommodations.
2. ADA violations could occur "if the Website somehow interfered with a disabled individual's ability to enjoy access to the Company's stores and so allowed such allegations to proceed".
3. The fact the Target provided alternate means ("auxiliary aids and services") of access to Target services, such as telephones, was not enough grounds on their own for the court to dismiss the case.
The NFB sees it in terms of the problem being that "the company's Web site doesn't accommodate the special text-reading software that the blind use to surf the Internet. In both cases, a person with a disability is kept out of a public place or denied use of a service, just as African-Americans were not welcome at whites-only lunch counters." (Source: NFB)
It will be interesting to see how this progresses and the potential ramifications that will result.
Related resources:
Realtor.org (NAR) - ADA Lawsuit over Website Access Proceeds- background on the lawsuit (required NAR membership login).
NFB News Release (9/2006) regarding Target lawsuit; NFB: From the President's Email
ADA: Accessibility of State and Local Government Websites to People with Disabilities - which is on the U.S. Justice Department's ADA web site, providing Web site accessibility resources and guidelines for web designers.
National Council on Disability: ADA Covers Websites
ADA Information Clearing House - List of ADA Web Sites
ADA Section 508 - Tutorial
Law.com: Do Web Sites Need To Be Accessible to the Blind? - comment on lawsuit against Target regarding ADA accessibility of it's web site.
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ADA: Could Also Apply To The Web And Your Site
3 comments • Lawrence Yerkes - Broker Associate, Southern New Jersey Real Estate Services • April 12 2007 10:25AMComments
Amazing. I can see their point, but it could make it very hard for the little guy to compete. THis could mean that activerain is not in compliance.
Yet another reason to keep your websites heavy on the text and light on the graphics and scripts.
Christina - you can use the "Alt" tag to add text descriptions of graphics.
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