Target and accessible websites
Yesterday, a federal district court judge in California issued two landmark decisions in a nationwide class action against the Target Corporation.
First, the court certified the case as a class action on behalf of blind Internet users throughout the country under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
Second, the court held that Web sites such as target.com are required by California law to be accessible.
The President of the National Federation of the Blind, Dr. Marc Maurer, commented on the court’s ruling:
“This is a tremendous step forward for blind people throughout the country who for too long have been denied equal access to the Internet economy. All e-commerce businesses should take note of this decision and immediately take steps to open their doors to the blind.â€
Court Ruling Says California Disabled Rights Law Applies to the Web
Update: Further information on Yahoo news
Date: 4 October 2007
Author: Russ Weakley
Category: Accessibility, News, Web, Web standards
Tags:
this is awsome! hoe to hear more about this in other countries
While I’m happy about the step in the right direction, it’s sad that the change has to come as a result of a class action.
When will corporations start to take proactive steps to avoid having to go through this type of legal rambling?
Who knows…
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Great!!!
I think this must be a law in the whole world.
Good example!
Fantastic, thanks for bringing this to our attention Russ
[...] My thanks to Max Design for highlighting the recent court ruling in California regarding the accessibility of Target Corporation’s website. [...]
Wow, that target.com site is like a time warp back to 1999.
Target is one of good store at CouponAlbum site (http://www.couponalbum.com). It’s worth checking out sites like this.
This makes me sad. It’s just another way for a government to control its populace. Access to a website should not be a right. How lame.
Chris makes a valid point, that access to a website should not be a right, however section 508 in the U.S. and the Disability Discrimination Act here in England, are not about increasing peoples rights absolutely, but relatively. In other words if you allow access to your website then you mustn’t discriminate against people because of disability.
Websites can easily be designed so that they provide access to people with a wide range of disabilities without compromising on good visual design. Nothing in life is perfect of course, so one persons highly visible black on cream text could be another persons confusing non-standard style. It is all about making reasonable adjustments and given the capabilities of the internet, there is a moral obligation to try our best.