US case highlights importance of website accessibility

28/08/2008

Web design professionals may want to take note of the settlement of a lawsuit where US retailer Target was sued for allegedly failing to account for the needs of blind web users on its site.

Filed in 2006, the class action lawsuit saw plaintiffs based in California sue the company when they were unable to access the Target website through their usual screen-reading software.

This week, it was announced that Target had reached a settlement to pay these web users $6 million (£2.7 million) in damages and embed the necessary website code to make the site more accessible for the visually impaired.

The changes will be monitored and approved by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) over the next three years.

"It is our sincere hope that other businesses providing goods and services over the internet will follow Target's example and take affirmative steps to provide full access to their websites by blind consumers," Dr Marc Maurer, president of the NFB, commented.

According to software firm Squiz, accessible websites can help to boost search engine optimisation and potentially increase sales conversions through improved user experiences.