Target becomes target of class-action suit

by Ryan Carter Sep 14th 2006

Target faces a class-action lawsuit this week because their website was deemed inaccessible for those with disabilities like blindness. The judge struck down a motion to drop the case stating that Target must make its website accessible to those with disabilities just as if they were shopping in their physical stores. The judge cited the Americans with Disabilities Act, saying Target is legally obligated to serve its online customers with the same provisions as brick-and-mortar stores. Target is still hopeful that this will not be the final word, and the ruling has not been finalized yet, but this case does raise interesting issues and accessibility law considerations for many companies, depending on how this case turns out.

[Via DailyCal.org]

Tags: accessibility, class-action, disability, lawsuit, Target, website

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Gardiner Westbound said 8:58AM on 9-14-2006

Who knew? This will make a lawyer rich.

What next, menswear stores being sued for not carrying frilly underwear for homos?

tank said 11:23AM on 9-14-2006

Blind people shop online? Didn't know that.

Murph said 12:51PM on 9-14-2006

Okay, we're really reaching on the "PC" front with this one. I appreciate the needs of the blind, but is it the merchants responsibility to provide technology or does this fall on the shoulders of the consumer to provide their own products to enter the mainstream? If you're blind, obese, or an agoraphobic - do what you can to get your needs met, yes?

Dallas said 12:51PM on 9-14-2006

Are the commentors kidding? Yes yes yes its the responsibility of the merchant to create accessible sites, especially when you're a force as large as Target. Seriously? All it would probably cost is a week's worth of TV advertising to make their site fully accessible.

james said 1:33PM on 9-14-2006

Dallas, right on. Really, what is Target thinking? Are they looking for bad PR? And why in the world would they not be making their site accessible on their own? Don't they want more customers?

It really should not cost that much, unless they have a totally crappy IT department. But since they did not make the site accessible in the first place, it is likely that they do have a crappy IT department.

Mustang said 11:29PM on 9-14-2006

Are you kidding me? This is absolutely ridiculous. There is no way Target can be forced to cater to people with disabilities on their site. If they are then it would lend to many other large websites being sued for silly things like this.

UhOh said 3:02AM on 9-16-2006

Are there existing laws that require websites to be screen-reader/blind-friendly? If Target isn't, won't the blind just go shop at walmart.com or amazon.com or elsewhere?

I know my own website isn't blind-friendly... uh oh -- can I be sued? How about any website that uses Flash extensively? How do you make Flash friendly for sight-impaired users?

RP said 8:57AM on 9-16-2006

I know that our local Target is part of an effort to donate millions of dollars to our local schools. They claim to have given $183 million for books and playground purchases. Actually, it looks like a nation-wide program. I think that's pretty generous.

itanshi said 9:07AM on 9-20-2006

heh makes my life difficult, but i'm sure something can be arranged.

this is valid, no matter how silly.

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters