Target offers $6 million settlement
Revamps website for the visually impaired
AMERICAN RETAIL GIANT Target has agreed to pay $6 million to visually impaired Californians who were unable to successfully navigate the company's website.
It has also offered to revamp the site by enabling keyboard functionality and inserting code that would provide a vocal description of various pages.
The improvements are slated to be completed by early 2009 and will be initially monitored by the National Federation of the Blind.
The organisation had accused Target of violating a number of federal and state laws that entitles disabled individuals to equal access to business and government services.
US District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel refused to dismiss the 2006 lawsuit and noted that the American With Disabilities Act required removal of all barriers to "a disabled person's full enjoyment of goods or services”.
Attorney Julia Pinover of Disability Rights Advocates applauded the $6 million settlement offer. According to Pinover, Target's efforts could “demystify how to become accessible”.
L'Inq
SF
Gate
Comments
Frivolous lawsuits
Why would blind people need to sue Target? I mean, can't they get their "Books on Tape" at some other more accessible web site? Seriously, if I have to click to disable audio descriptions of items or some other annoying accessibility feature, I will sue them right back. This is worse than those handicap ramps taking up all of the good parking spaces near the front door of the store!Design for the lowest common denominator, no matter how sympathetic, just plain sucks. Big text web sites for aging, myopic CEOs is one thing, visual design for people without vision is quite another.
Priorities
Only in San Francisco! Maybe these same folks will determine that MODEMs are too hard for the disabled to use and somehow mange to require the Telcos to provide broadband access for the 50% of americans that are still on dial-up. Somehow that seems more important to the future of the nation than catering to 0.4% of the population that mostly don't use the Internet anyway.A simple browser settings is all that's needed,
to seperate out those visitors who want or don't want extra help on a website.I can't believe you fat asses can be so mean to people who's quality of life is likely lower than your own. You should be grateful for what you have.
And the extra walk from parking your car in a non-disabled space might mean your fat ass gets a little bit fitter and protects your cold heart for an extra year's life.
I'm surprised fat asses don't park further away, it would be a simple way for them to get more exercise.