Advocates for Web Access for Blind Pass Legal Hurdle

ADVOCATES FOR WEB ACCESS FOR BLIND PASS LEGAL HURDLE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: James Covert james.covert@dowjones.com]
Blind Internet users scored a victory in their battle to gain better access to what is on the Web. A federal judge in California has granted class-action status to a lawsuit against Target Corp. charging that the discount retailer's site is inaccessible to blind shoppers. The lawsuit already appears to have prodded Target into making improvements to its site, and industry experts say legal challenges have proved to be an effective way for blind advocates to alert Web builders about problems with Internet access. Efforts to write accessibility requirements into federal Internet guidelines have hit roadblocks. The majority of corporate initiatives to improve Internet access to blind and other disabled Web users has been driven by fear of lawsuits, says David Grant, vice president of marketing for Watchfire, an Internet-access consultant owned by International Business Machines Corp.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119141557627247599.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
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* Suit may spur greater Web access for blind
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-blind4oct04,1,1889405...
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