Are You Accessible? Lawsuit brings accessibility to the news.
The National Federation for the Blind recently filed a lawsuit against Target Corp., because it’s website Target.com is not accessible to blind users using screen reading technology.
Accessibility has long been in the back of many website owner’s minds, and in the forefront of a few, but I think this will bring out a whole new focus. I know several usability-focused consultants (Gordon Montgomery at GMETA is one I’ve worked with) and even small web shops that put a high priority on making sites usable to screen readers, but for most it’s an afterthought… not even in the top 20 list of priorities for development time. This lawsuit and the awareness that comes with it may change that, especially for retailers with brick and mortar locations, as the U.S. law is more strict for them. I don’t expect it to ever be in the top 5 priorities, but maybe it will now crack the top 20.
I’ve been a advocate of text on websites for a long time, if mainly for a different reason: search engines. Text is effectively hidden to screen readers for the blind as well as search engines when embedded into Flash or images. Alternative text that gives the same or similar message as the Flash/image has two huge advantages; search visible and screen reader visible.
I expect you’ll see some consultants in this space doing quite well for themselves and web agencies starting to add it to their advertised capabilities. Good for them, good for all.
Here are some resources if you are interested in finding out more: Section 508 Law website for the U.S., and the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative.
Try this: go to your web browser’s settings and either turn off image loading or show all “ALT” text… Can someone still get your message? Can they navigate? Can they purchase your products? Can they contact you?
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