A long-running case in California against Target is eligible for class action status, US District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled last week. This specifically concerns the blind and sight-impaired and accessibility of Target’s web site.

This could have huge implications for corporate sites. It’s likely that many have been designed with very little thought towards accessibility. It also will impact my work life at the University of Minnesota where I know that many pieces of the U of MN’s web presence are not accessible. There is an accessibility policy in place but no one monitors sites and there is really no central web department.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing folks won’t be far behind in seeking accessible sites. If you podcast or have video with audio, you need a transcript.

As seems always the case with accessibility, the more accessible the site, the more usable for us all. In fact, transcripts provide fodder for search engines so your audio files can get indexed. Good accessibility for sight-impaired provides better keyboard access to a site and less mousing for us all.

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