[blindlaw] FW: [nfbwatlk] Fw: Accessible Devices An Article of Interest To ThoseConcerned About Accessibility

[Nightingale, Noel]

Blindlaw listers:

See below message about another ruling in the Target case.
 Have I missed the post, or does anyone have access to the recent class
action certification ruling of the California court in the Target case?

Noel

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Lauren Merryfield
Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2007 4:02 PM
To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Subject: [nfbwatlk] Fw: Accessible Devices An Article of Interest To
ThoseConcerned About Accessibility


----- Original Message -----
From: Parker at Vip conduit
To: Accessible Devices
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2007 7:18 AM
Subject: Accessible Devices An Article of Interest To Those Concerned
About Accessibility


While this is not a normal post for this list, this article describes
decisions that will have definite implications for those concerned with
accessibility.
IT-Analysis.com
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Three cheers for Target for fighting accessibility By Peter Abrahams
Peter Abrahams, Practice Leader, Accessibility and Usability, Bloor
Research In March this year I wrote an article about accessibility law
suits going through the American courts. One of the cases was against
Target, one of the largest retailers in the US. The claim being that the
Target website was not accessible to a blind person.
If Target had been sensible they would have cried 'mea culpa', promised
to improve the web-site, made a small pay-out and the whole story would
have disappeared without a trace. Instead Target's attorneys decided to
fight the case at every turn. In a recent judgement the US court has
thrown out all the important arguments so far (for more details on the
ruling see an article by Out-Law
http://www.out-law.com/page-8539
). This means that the scope and the intent of the law is much clearer
and this should make it much easier for accessibility advocates to press
their case in the future. Hence my three cheers for Target! The case
will now go forward as a class action so the total damages may be
substantial.
The messages to all e-commerce sites owners should now be clear:
The laws on accessibility apply to your site.
You would be brave, or more correctly foolhardy, to try and claim some
special exemption, as you are likely to fail.
The law is now clear and public so the courts will not be sympathetic to
the plea 'I did not think it applied to my site' or even worse 'I did
not know about the law'.
So how should e-commerce owners react?:
Do not panic.
Recognise that the principles apply to you even if you are not based, or
market, in the US because most other jurisdictions now have relevant
laws in this area Arrange an initial assessment of your sites to
understand the size and scope of any problems. It is possible they may
be small.
Increase your awareness of accessibility and the related usability
benefits.
One simple way is to read my previous, and future, articles and blogs.
Build accessibility into your requirements definition process.
Create a realistic plan to move towards accessibility.
If you are seen to be actively working on accessibility neither the
courts nor the accessibility advocates will wish to take action against
you. They understand that moving to accessibility takes time and must be
done in a cost effective and realistic fashion. They also recognise that
there are other enterprises that they should chase as they are still not
taking the issue seriously and need to be prodded to conform.
http://www.it-analysis.com/blogs/Abrahams_Accessibility/2007/10/three_ch
eers_for_target_for_fighti_.html

www.vipconduit.com
and
www.accessible-devices.com

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