Judge Rules Sites Can Be Sued Over Design

BcNexus writes "According to the Associated Press, a California judge has ruled that a lawsuit brought against the Target Corporation may proceed under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The catch here is that the suit, leveled by the National Federation of the Blind, concerns the design of Target's website. Could this set a precedent and subsequent flood of lawsuits against websites? What if another design is not tractable?" From the article: "'What this means is that any place of business that provides services, such as the opportunity to buy products on a website, is now, a place of accommodation and therefore falls under the ADA,' said Kathy Wahlbin, Mindshare's Director of User Experience and expert on accessibility. 'The good news is that being compliant is not difficult nor is it expensive. And it provides the additional benefit of making accessible web sites easier for search engines to find and prioritize.'"

Comments

Accessibility

[bryan8m]

I'm considering adding braille to my website and building ramps between pages for those in wheelchairs.

Re:Flash

[Toba82]

That's the one good thing that can come out of this, I guess.

One crucial point not addressed by the ruling

[koreth]

Can you sue over designs that are so obnoxious they cause you to go blind?