Disability awareness online
This was bound to start coming to the forefront. Usability online has a lot more to do with accessibility for all users than proving you can use css and getting on a digg post of the best 2.0 sites. In the UK all Public sector websites must be accessible. It is a stipulation on all public sector tenders. But how many schools, hospitals and councils websites are? Not surprisingly the states has lead the way with the public suing the companies that are not up to scratch: Bruce Sexton is blind. He would like to shop on Target's Web site, but says he can't "read" it. He says the site lacks certain coding, found on many other Web sites, that would activate software to allow blind computer users to hear audio descriptions of what is on Internet pages. Sexton, 24, who lives in Berkeley, Calif., and the National Federation of the Blind are suing Target on behalf of the 1.3 million blind people in the United States. The suit alleges that the giant retailer discriminates against the visually impaired by violating state and federal laws that protect the disabled. The case draws national attention because it could have implications for virtually every retailer and business in the United States that operates a Web site. The case also fuels a wider debate starting to play out in courtrooms: whether anti-discrimination laws apply to the Internet. Read the full story
