4 October 2007
The U.S’s second-largest U.S. discount store chain, Target Corp, have lost the bid to dismiss a lawsuit claiming the company's website wasn't accessible to the blind.
Target's request to dismiss the case was rejected by a U.S. District Judge in San Francisco. The case was also certified as a class action. This ruling means that all legally blind people in the U.S who have been denied access to services at Target stores because of deficiencies in the company's website can join the suit.
According to court filings by the National Federation of the Blind, Target failed to use "technologically simple and not economically prohibitive" code embedded in websites allowing the blind to use software that vocalises the content.
The group filed the suit on behalf of Bruce Sexton, a UC Berkeley student who claimed that he couldn't access some features of Target.com. The group’s lawyer said:
It was just gibberish for blind users trying to use the website...Target has argued that no law - neither the Americans with Disabilities Act nor state law - could require it to make its website accessible to the blind, today's decision completely rejects Target's argument.
Target spokeswoman Carolyn Brookter said the company would seek a review of the certification of the suit as a class action and stated that Target executives are confident the company will win the suit.
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