I just went to the site and found it very accessible up until the checkout
phase. Catherine, what screen reader and browser are you using? Has anyone
else noticed a problem with checkout?
Tim
----- Original Message -----
From: "Catherine Getchell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2006 7:30 AM
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] Fw: TARGET CORPORATION SUED FOR DISCRIMINATION
AGAINST THE BLIND
>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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>>
>
>
> VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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>
VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
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