I found this post interesting because I not only used Target.com
successfully to do my wedding registry last year, but I've also purchased
stuff easily through the site and didn't find it inaccessible. I'm curious
to hear if others have had problems with their site. Maybe I missed
something.
----- Original Message -----
From: "PETER ALTSCHUL" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 7:21 PM
Subject: [VICUG-L] Fw: TARGET CORPORATION SUED FOR DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
THE BLIND
>> 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."
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nfb-announce mailing list [log in to unmask]
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-announce
>
>
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