News has surfaced that a blind man has sued Target over its website’s inability to be used properly by blind computer users. The link I’ve included is, frankly, embarrassing because I think of that online community at arstechnica as intelligent and typically non-reactive. However if you follow the article’s discussion link you’ll see some really, really stupid responses.
This particular issue strikes a chord with me because in a past life I wrote a research paper on the experience blind users have on the Internet. I interviewed a blind man and talked to him about his experiences with the Internet and the pages he uses daily. The sad part is that he pointed out this exact problem to me though it was with the Vancouver Sun’s website at the time. That was over 5 years ago now I believe. Isn’t progress grand?
I am doubly perplexed by people’s comments that coding web pages for blind people is difficult. There are official web standards that have been agreed upon for this very reason – it even has a label: accessability. If you follow the standards during the design and coding stages then you’ll encounter no problems whatsoever with people accessing your site. Naturally this relies upon the fact that everybody’s needs are recognized and taken into account by the standards bodies – resulting in standards that are being updated as things come to light. But the standards boards try very hard to maintain successes they’ve already won as they move forward. I’ve posted before about how Internet Explorer really makes web design tough. So if I haven’t made it clear before I want to make it clear now – stop using Internet Explorer! Please find a more standards-compliant web browser for your needs. Opera is free (finally) and is the most standards-compliant. I myself use Firefox, which is only slightly behind Opera in standards-compliance.. The only way these websites will feel the pinch to start following the standards is if they feel it in their wallets. if you start visting their website and complain, or comment on how terrible the experience is because of their poor design, they might start listening.
Sorry about the evangelizing. I needed to get it off my chest. But I support this guy, and I think that if the judicial system chooses again to say that the rules of brick-and-mortar stores do not apply online, screw that. The Internet is no longer a toy or hobby. Social and consumer pressures exist – acknowledge this and don’t let people get away with laziness at the expense of the disabled.