Even though most of the people I know use the internet every day, no one really asks me for any “in-depth industry knowledge� until something like the National Federation of the Blind lawsuit against Target for its Web site not being accessible by those with disabilities hits the news:
Acquaintance: “So, what’s this Target lawsuit thing?�
Me: “Blind people can’t use their Web site because it was put together poorly.�
Acquaintance: “Huh. That isn’t nearly as interesting as I thought it would be.�
Dammit. Well, for those of you that are interested, I offer this quick break-down of the highlights of this pending case and its possible ramifications.
Tech-challenged way-simplified background:
Web pages are actually documents written in code. When your browser opens a Web page, it actually accesses the page’s document and reads the code. The code tells the browser what should be on the page (text, images, header, navigation, everything else), which your browser then renders into the Web page you actually see.
There are a variety of ways for people with disabilities to use all of the functionality offered by the Web. The visually impaired can use software that reads a page’s code just like your browser does, but renders it audibly instead of visually. A person whose disabilities prevent them from using a mouse to navigate a site can do so with a keyboard or a switch access device. The key to making these alternative methods work is the code. If the code is done properly with these things in mind, they work. If it isn’t, they don’t.
The Case: Â
The code behind Target’s Web site wasn’t and doesn’t.
The Law:
The legal basis is complicated and should be studied independently if you are interested, but here is the gist:
- The Americans with Disabilities Act ensures that people are not denied access to places of public accommodation due to their disability.
- The NFB’s argument is that the goods, services and information available on Target’s Web site makes the site a place of public accommodation which must then be made accessible to all under the ADA.
The lasting impact of all this will be to determine if virtual access should have the same protection under the law as physical access to a traditional store. Following recent trends, it appears that this will eventually be the law even if it isn’t made so by this particular case.
The Common Sense:
 So, should you be concerned with accessibility? Consider the following:
- Not being accessible restricts who can use your site. Don’t businesses spend a whole lot of money trying to get people to their site? Does it make sense for them to bounce some of the traffic that they manage to draw simply because the site isn’t built right?
- Search Engines read Web pages the same way that reader software for the blind does: That’s right, search engines read code in a similar way the reader software. Images, Flash content and site sections that are inaccessible by disabled site users is also inaccessible to the search engines.
- In Summation: Not addressing the accessibility needs of all of your potential site users is not just mean, it is bad for business. And so is getting sued.
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