Blind people can use software to read aloud the content from websites but only if those websites are designed properly. A federal court judge in California has issued two landmark decisions against the Target Corporation, a retail company, because their website was inaccessible to blind people.
Firstly, the case was certified as a class action on behalf of blind Internet users throughout the country under the Americans with Disabilities Act; and secondly, the court held that similar websites are required by Californian law to be accessible.
By having an inaccessible website, retailers are discriminating against many of their potential customers. That’s why the President of the National Federation of the Blind said in a statement:
“This is a tremendous step forward for blind people throughout the country who for too long have been denied equal access to the Internet economy. All e-commerce businesses should take note of this decision and immediately take steps to open their doors to the blind.”
Web accessibility standards and laws apply in many countries – here’s a list of countries and relevant legislation. The Disability Discrimination Act covers UK websites and if you’re in the UK it’s worth knowing that the charity Abilitynet can give you advice and a free accessibity check of your own charity’s website. Plus, the ICT Hub publish an excellent free Web Accessibility Pack which all charities should read.
Great insight…
I have one big problem with this..how can you ever cater for all people from all walks of life? I am going to read up on the site you suggested.
Thanks for the advice
Adrian
I don’t think you can ever cater for all people and nor would you expect to. But you can make a website accessible to as many people as possible by removing unnecessary technological and other barriers.
It is odd that in an article about accessibility you have links that are not recognisable as links until you move your mouse over it.
Accessibility rules would suggest that your links should be underlined or otherwise obvious without the need to mouse over them.
The links on this blog were indicated by being in a different colour but you’re right, they weren’t quite distinct enough from the main text. I’ve fixed that and now links are underlined too. Please bear in mind that this is a new blog and it’s not quite 100% there yet, but thanks for the reminder that I have to practice what I preach!