> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> Matthew Pugh Mazen M. Basrawi-Attorney for Plaintiffs
>
> Erica Chlada Equal Justice Works Fellow
>
> National Federation of the Blind Disability Rights Advocates
>
> Baltimore, MD Berkeley, CA
>
> 410-727-6855 510-665-8644/510 -655-8716 (TTY)
>
TARGET CORPORATION SUED FOR DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE BLIND
>
> National Federation of the Blind Charges Website Violates California
law
>
> Berkeley, CA (2/7/06) --- The National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
filed
> a
> class action suit today in California's Alameda County Courthouse
against
> Target Corporation, the nationwide discount retailer which operates
more
> than 1,300 stores in 47 states.
>
> The suit - brought by NFB, the NFB of California, and a blind
Californian,
> Bruce "BJ" Sexton, on behalf of themselves and all blind people in
> California - charges that Target's website ( www.target.com) is
> inaccessible
> to the blind, violating the California Unruh Civil Rights Act and the
> California Disabled Persons Act.
>
> The plaintiffs are represented by Disability Rights Advocates, a
> Berkeley-based non-profit law firm that specializes in high-impact
cases
> on
> behalf of people with disabilities, Schneider & Wallace, a plaintiff's
> class
> action and civil rights law firm in San Francisco, and Brown,
Goldstein &
> Levy a leading civil rights law firm in Baltimore, Maryland.
>
> "Blind customers should have the same access to Target's online
services
> that Target offers its sighted customers," says NFB President Dr. Marc
> Maurer.
>
> Dr. Maurer explains that blind persons access websites by using
keyboards
> in
> conjunction with screen-reading software which vocalizes visual
> information
> on a computer screen.
>
> Target's website - which according to its home page is "powered by
> Amazon.com" - contains significant access barriers that prevent blind
> customers from browsing and purchasing products online, as well as
from
> finding important corporate information such as employment
opportunities,
> investor news, and company policies.
>
> The plaintiffs charge that Target.com fails to meet the minimum
standard
> of
> web accessibility. It lacks compliant alt-text, an invisible code
embedded
> beneath graphic images that allows screen readers to detect and
vocalize a
> description of the image to a blind computer user. It also contains
> inaccessible image maps, preventing blind users from jumping to
different
> destinations within the website. And because the website requires the
use
> of
> a mouse to complete a transaction, blind Target customers are unable
to
> make
> purchases on Target.com independently.
>
> "We tried to convince Target that it should make its website
accessible
> through negotiations," says Dr. Maurer. "It's unfortunate that Target
was
> unwilling to commit to equal access for all its online customers. That
> gave
> us no choice but to seek the protection of the court. The website is
no
> more
> accessible today than it was in May of last year, when we first
complained
> to Target."
>
> Explaining the grounds for the NFB suit, Mazen M. Basrawi, Equal
Justice
> Works Fellow at Disability Rights Advocates, notes that Target's
actions
> are
> in violation of California law, which in turn incorporates the
Americans
> with Disabilities Act (ADA). "Target.com is a 'public place' within
the
> meaning of California Civil Code because it is open to the public, and
> because the laws apply to all services related to Target stores,
including
> the website," says Basrawi.
>
> "Simply put, Target is a retail outlet, a public place, with a public
> website. The retail outlet is a store, and the website is a service
> provided
> by and integrated with the brick-and-mortar stores," Basrawi
continues.
>
> The complaint filed today by NFB in California Superior Court for
Alameda
> County seeks to enjoin Target from continued violation of the
California
> Civil Code. The suit asks the court to declare that Target is
operating
> its
> website in a manner that discriminates against the blind and persons
with
> visual disabilities in violation of California law, and seeks damages
for
> the plaintiffs.
>
> "I want to be able to shop online at Target.com just like anyone
else,"
> says
> UC Berkeley student BJ Sexton, who is a named plaintiff in the
lawsuit. "I
> believe that millions of blind people like me can use the internet
just as
> easily as do the sighted, if the website is accessible."
>
> _______________________________________________
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