9 March 2007

A web expert has issued a stark warning to companies: "Court cases and accessibility - act now before it hurts."

Peter Abrahams, the Practice Leader of Bloor Research, drew attention to two major court cases currently taking place with regards to website accessibility brought against US retailer Target and Oracle and the state of Texas.

Writing on the IT Director website, he warned "every enterprise and supplier must realise that they could be next" and take action soon, rather than facing mounting costs and a potentially protracted legal battle in the future.

Cases such as this are "undoubtedly" likely to bring negative publicity upon a company, while requiring "executive time and effort to resolve".

Last year, the case against Target was brought by the National Federation of the Blind on behalf of a web user who alleged that the company's e-commerce website did not comply with accessibility standards.

The UK Disability Discrimination Act and US Americans with Disabilities Act require that all public places - on or offline - are sufficiently accessible for blind and visually-impaired individuals.

© Adfero Ltd

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