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.”
Court Ruling Says California Disabled Rights Law Applies to the Web
October 4th, 2007
3:51 am
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this is awsome! hoe to hear more about this in other countries
October 4th, 2007
4:20 am
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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…
October 4th, 2007
4:51 am
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[…] YouTube Target and accessible websites » This Summary is from an article posted at Max Design - standards based web design, development and training on Wednesday, October 03, 2007 This article’s contents are copywritten by the author of Max Design - standards based web design, development and training . Please click "View Original Article…" below to view the article. Summary Provided by Technorati.comView Original Article at Max Design - standards based web design, development and training » 10 Most Recent News Articles About Yahoo […]
October 4th, 2007
6:45 am
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Great!!!
I think this must be a law in the whole world.
Good example!
October 4th, 2007
11:13 am
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Fantastic, thanks for bringing this to our attention Russ
October 4th, 2007
11:11 pm
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[…] My thanks to Max Design for highlighting the recent court ruling in California regarding the accessibility of Target Corporation’s website. […]
October 4th, 2007
11:21 pm
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Wow, that target.com site is like a time warp back to 1999.
October 6th, 2007
3:21 pm
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Target is one of good store at CouponAlbum site (http://www.couponalbum.com). It’s worth checking out sites like this.
October 9th, 2007
7:55 am
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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.
October 9th, 2007
7:58 pm
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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.