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Class action suit certified against Target Corporation

by on04 October 2007

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Action seeks access for Blind

 

Target Corporation was sued in 2006 in a class-action lawsuit that was filed by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), claiming a violation of the U.S. law under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The lawsuit was filed as a class action lawsuit on behalf of all blind Americans who have been denied access to the Target Web site, www.target.com. The suit was initially brought by the NFB and a blind college student who claimed that Target’s Web site is inaccessible to the sight impaired and to the blind, which violates federal and state laws that prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities. A U.S. District Court Judge in Northern California has certified the case as a class action on behalf of blind Internet users in the U.S. under the provisions of the ADA.

An interesting fact about this class action is that the Judge reportedly linked the “nexus” between sight impaired and blind users trying to access the Web site, as well as physically shopping in the Target stores; in essence, the Web site usage was desired partly a result of those users who had gone into Target stores to shop, but then were denied access to shopping in the same way on the Target Web site.

Target had sought a Summary Judgment earlier in the case, which was denied by the Judge. There are talking tools available for the sight impaired that explain in detail what is being displayed on a computer screen.  The NFB and the Disability Rights Advocates indicated that e-commerce sites should be alerted that their sites need to comply with the rules of the ADA and provide better access to the sight impaired and to the blind.

Read more here.

Last modified on 04 October 2007
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