Website inaccessible to the blind

http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_039235051.html

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The blind use programs called screen readers, which vocalize whatever the window says....

...In order for blind people's programs to read the links, however, the programmer must put that link on the site.

The National Federation of the Blind said Target refused to add the links....

...The lawsuit should decide if Target.com will have to change its Web site or not.

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I am curious to know how everyone thinks about this. Generally the web stores is not subject to the same regulations that brick and morter businesses are. Store fronts are required to have handicap parking, wheelchair ramps etc... Should websites be required to be handicap accessible as well?

its not something that they can really enforce.

but to not do it would cause tons of boycotting.

Well I think a store like target should at least make an effort to make their site accessable through valid markup.

That said, I think anything above and beyond making an effort at valid markup is going above and beyond. I don't think they have a case. Boycotting, protesting and petitioning Target might be the answer, but not a lawsuit.

I don't think lawsuits for this are exactly the best solution, because it becomes tricky as to what type of companies or websites should by law,ensure they're accessible.

But honestly, Target ends up looking like a complete jackass for letting this escalate to such a point. They should have dealt with the situation by simply by offering an apology and fixing the problem which itself should not be that hard to deal with.

well, i have to say, i think that this is another thing that should be up to the business and who they serve.

Regulations for public instititutions should be regulated as well those who recieve funding from the government. Corporate institutions should have their own say, however, i think it's a big slap in the face for major ones to snub a certain group of people based on a disability. So for any business that wants as many customers as possible they should conform. And this isn't anything new, website compatitbility for the blind/disabled has been around since i started coding.

if you make your site 508 compliant, then it's no longer a problem.

I think we should legislate to make pr0n sites accessible.

hmmm.....pr0n for blind people. Interesting idea.

i could only imagine what that would be like...G-rated forum will not allow me ot post it...thank god i'm not blind. :D

I've seen pics of those Braile screen readers. I magine that would make your fingertips tingle when viewing a pr0n image. :D

Goes to Google Braile screen readers....

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Originally Posted by lefteyewilly

i could only imagine what that would be like...G-rated forum will not allow me ot post it...thank god i'm not blind.

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keep doing what you've been doing while perusing pr0n sites... you will be blind.

Hahahahaha

Since I work for a government university, every page I make has to be 508 compliant, and let me tell you it is a major pain and creates several extra hours of work. Every image has to have text in the alt tag. Even the coursework has to be 508, although there are no blind students taking classes. I guess it is nice to be fair to everyone though.

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Every image has to have text in the alt tag.

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ITS ALWAYS A GOOD PRACTICE. :)

While every image should have an alt attribute, the alt text should be picked very carefully, and should frequently be empty (for images whose purpose is decorative. It could be argued that many images are merely used as decoration). Bad alt text is frequently worse than none at all.

For example a bit over a year ago we were hiring at work, one of the applicants had webpage that used lot's of spacer gifs (not a good start ;)) the alt text for each of these spacers contained his company name. After about the 80th time of being informed who's page I was reading - before having reached any actual content, I gave up, stopped my screenreader and moved on to the next person.

Also since netscape started making the alt text visible as a tooltip (and microsoft copied them), people have written alt text to act as a tooltip. In almost all cases text that might work as a tooltip - in addition to the image - is inappropriate as text that should be available in place of the image.

"A chart showing the different types of pie eaten at football matches" might make sense in addition to the image of the actual graph, but without it the information is useless.

bless the handicapped. but, im not sure how you can justify government stepping in and forcing companies to make web-sites blind friendly without opening a pandoras box of other issues. for instance, why should a web-site be subject to such regulations that other software is not? why should a site do this when a video game or application doesnt have to? all are products that represent a company.

i think its great when a company does this on their own. but government has no place there, imo.

you could make a killing setting up a furniture store for the blind. tape cardboard boxes together and sell as some expensive coffee table!

Awesome.

Government regular of private businesses on this stuff? No. Civil action by people who feel they are being unfairly discriminated against? Sure. At least then it's getting the problem into the spotlight and showing companies that if they make the effort there are people who will appreciate what they do. It's a small thing and it will help them in other areas too.

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Civil action by people who feel they are being unfairly discriminated against? Sure.

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For not tagging images? No, that's absurd. You wouldn't want me on the jury. That's like blaming a company for there even being blind people. If you go that route, then you could argue that every price tag needs a braille price on it, every published book needs a line of braille for every line of print text, every item with a made in japan sticker needs bumps in the plastic.

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Originally Posted by Ask The Geezer

For not tagging images? No, that's absurd. You wouldn't want me on the jury. That's like blaming a company for there even being blind people. If you go that route, then you could argue that every price tag needs a braille price on it, every published book needs a line of braille for every line of print text, every item with a made in japan sticker needs bumps in the plastic.

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That's the first thing that you have said that I agree with.....

never point the finger, someone else will start pointing back.

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That's the first thing that you have said that I agree with.....

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Your one up on me then. :D

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Originally Posted by Ask The Geezer

For not tagging images? No, that's absurd.

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I agree, it's not what I'm talking about sueing for though, but carry on.

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Originally Posted by gerbick

if you make your site 508 compliant, then it's no longer a problem.

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508's a joke. It's a collection of murky guidelines at best, completely open to interpretation. I sat in a 2 hour meeting discussing whether or not a course as it existed was 508 compliant or not, that's not something that should be debated, there should be a clear yes or no answer.

I think it'd be impossible to enforce in the private sector. Some companies are adopting it for their own guidelines, which is fine, but it's way too loose. You wouldn't want to be on that jury. On top of that, what determines a commercial site that must be compliant? If I sell some homebrew software on my website, do I have to make the site that sells it compliant? Does the Sears catalogue need to be printed in braille?

It's definitely in the interest of a company to make its products and services as accessbile as possible, but I think it would be near impossible to legislate.