12 December 2006

Retailers are at risk of legal action if they fail to meet website accessibility standards, a lawyer has warned.

Richard Waugh, a commercial litigation lawyer at Eversheds, has said that services provided through a website must comply with the Disability Discrimination Act - or disabled customers may take action.

The expert claimed that all organisations with poor levels of accessibility must undertake "reasonable adjustments" to their websites in order to comply with the act, reports Retail Bulletin.

"Retailers who fail to take reasonable steps to tackle website accessibility are … at risk of complaints or legal proceedings from disabled customers."

Additionally, the expert said that companies could lose sales by failing to cater for this market.

In the US, retailer target has recently faced legal action of this nature - with charges brought by the National Federation of the Blind for poor levels on website accessibility.

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