Target (the retailer) sued because their website isn't

[JS80]

I heart liberal judges.

Judge: Lawsuit against Target can move ahead
Baltimore Business Journal - September 8, 2006
by Katharine Grayson
Contributor

A disabilities class-action lawsuit filed against Target Corp. regarding the accessibility of its Web site can move forward, a federal judge ruled this week.

The suit was bought by the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind. The organization said Target's Web site violates the Americans with Disabilities Act because it is not accessible to blind users.

Target asked a judge to dismiss the case, saying that no law demands that the retailer must make its site accessible, according to a Federation press statement.

The judge, however, said Wednesday that federal and state civil rights law apply to the discount retailer's Web site.

Responding the judge's decision, Target said in a statement that it would continue to fight the suit while working to improve its Web site.

"While disappointed the lawsuit was not entirely dismissed, Target is pleased with the court's decision to deny the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction," Target said in the statement. "We believe our Web site complies with all applicable laws and are committed to vigorously defending this case. We will continue to implement technology that increases the usability of our Web site for all our guests, including those with disabilities."

A spokesperson with the Federation could not immediately be reached for comment.

Target (NYSE: TGT) is a discount retailer based in Minneapolis.

 

[FoBoT]

why don't they just fix it so blind people can buy their crap?
they don't want more customers?

 

[imported_LoKe]

I still think that's stupid. They should be catering to whomever they want to, it's their business.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
why don't they just fix it so blind people can buy their crap?
they don't want more customers?

And how do you expect them to do this? Provide a little avatar that talks them through the site? "OK, now if you want store locations, the button is two inches above and three inches to the right of your current cursor position. No...a little more to the right...a little further up...there! Now, this page has a picture of a cute little Target dog at the top..."

 

[spidey07]

9th circuit?

Eitherway, just another dumb suit that the courts are allowing.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: FoBoT
why don't they just fix it so blind people can buy their crap?
they don't want more customers?

And how do you expect them to do this? Provide a little avatar that talks them through the site? "OK, now if you want store locations, the button is two inches above and three inches to the right of your current cursor position. No...a little more to the right...a little further up...there! Now, this page has a picture of a cute little Target dog at the top..."

Alt text for buttons and images. The blind are perfectly used to using text readers to navigate. There just needs to be enough textual descriptions that they can adequately do so.

 

[MisterJackson]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
why don't they just fix it so blind people can buy their crap?
they don't want more customers?

Responding the judge's decision, Target said in a statement that it would continue to fight the suit while working to improve its Web site.

 

[Toonces]

Originally posted by: LoKe
I still think that's stupid. They should be catering to whomever they want to, it's their business.

We have a Disability Act in Ontario too, LoKe (btw, why is your avatar an American flag!?)

Any modifications to private business must also incorporate installation of accessibility devices (ramps, handrails, etc...) or else you can't renovate.

If businesses catered to whomever they wanted to then how can anyone even try to fight blatantly discriminatory practises. Not all prejudices are based on race.

BUT, if there's a reasonable and feasable way to implement access for the blind (I assume the other retailers have such access on their sites?) then why would they not have to follow the law?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
why don't they just fix it so blind people can buy their crap?
they don't want more customers?

I've developed a site that was funded by a government agency, so we were required to make it section 508 compliant... it wasn't terribly difficult, the main things we had to do was make sure every image had an alt attribute and add an anchor so blind people could skip to the main content of the page.

This an interesting case... they're required by law to make their B&M store accessible to handicapped people, so I can see the reasoning for requiring that their web store be accessible too. But then where do you draw the line? Should all websites have to do it? I think not.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: FoBoT
why don't they just fix it so blind people can buy their crap?
they don't want more customers?

And how do you expect them to do this? Provide a little avatar that talks them through the site? "OK, now if you want store locations, the button is two inches above and three inches to the right of your current cursor position. No...a little more to the right...a little further up...there! Now, this page has a picture of a cute little Target dog at the top..."

i guess you don't know any blind people

i work with a blind man, he uses a program JAWS that reads the web pages. but the pages have to conform to certain HTML standards to be readable by the software

so sites like target just have to follow some standards and not use exclusive graphics (the software can't read pictures)

it isn't that hard to do, he visits dozens/100's of compatible web sites everyday

http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/software_jaws.asp

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: FoBoT
why don't they just fix it so blind people can buy their crap?
they don't want more customers?

And how do you expect them to do this? Provide a little avatar that talks them through the site? "OK, now if you want store locations, the button is two inches above and three inches to the right of your current cursor position. No...a little more to the right...a little further up...there! Now, this page has a picture of a cute little Target dog at the top..."

Blind people use software to read the page to them.

 

[thecrecarc]

Originally posted by: UNESC0
(btw, why is your avatar an American flag!?)

uh.... its 9/11?


anywho, taht funny. seriously, i highly doubt its against the law.

 

[randay]

Damn, wish I was disabled so I could sue the crap outta people.

 

[FoBoT]

see? mugs proves my point

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: randay
Damn, wish I was disabled so I could sue the crap outta people.

:roll: Yeah, it's almost worth it.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: randay
Damn, wish I was disabled so I could sue the crap outta people.

if you chop off your head, i think that counts for a disability
try it and let us know how it goes

 

[randay]

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: randay
Damn, wish I was disabled so I could sue the crap outta people.

if you chop off your head, i think that counts for a disability
try it and let us know how it goes

sweet! now I just gotta find a big company that discriminates against head-impaired people! I'm gonna be rich!

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: randay

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: randay
Damn, wish I was disabled so I could sue the crap outta people.

if you chop off your head, i think that counts for a disability
try it and let us know how it goes

sweet! now I just gotta find a big company that discriminates against head-impaired people! I'm gonna be rich!

Technically, you'd be blind and deaf. However, you're already retarded, so why take it a step further?

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: randay

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: randay
Damn, wish I was disabled so I could sue the crap outta people.

if you chop off your head, i think that counts for a disability
try it and let us know how it goes

sweet! now I just gotta find a big company that discriminates against head-impaired people! I'm gonna be rich!

i think you could then join in on this suit, if you are headless, you will be blind

 

[randay]

Lokes mad at me, now im sad.

 

[Toasthead]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: FoBoT
why don't they just fix it so blind people can buy their crap?
they don't want more customers?

And how do you expect them to do this? Provide a little avatar that talks them through the site? "OK, now if you want store locations, the button is two inches above and three inches to the right of your current cursor position. No...a little more to the right...a little further up...there! Now, this page has a picture of a cute little Target dog at the top..."

Alt Tags that can be read by a screen reader.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Have you guys ever spent any time looking around at the Target site? They have one of the poorest web sites I've ever seen. It's more like a video color pamphlet with no dimensions, no useful shipping info and, no way to get additional information on merchandise other than the abbreviated descriptions on their site. Target's web site is a nightmare for sighted customers let alone handicapped ones.

If you contact the company through email or by telephone they and complain about the site's lack of content, they appologize and explain that they have no way to provide more information about the products and cannot even tell you if a specific product is available in a local B&M store so that you can contact them for more information.

Also, jagec does not understand that most blind websurfers employ automatic readers that read titles and descriptions of products when the cursor slides over said titles and graphics. That is what Target's site does not support.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: randay
Lokes mad at me, now im sad.

 

[FoBoT]

headless people can't cry, they have no tear ducts

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: randay
Damn, wish I was disabled so I could sue the crap outta people.

they arent sueing for money but for compliance to being disabled friendly.