A California district court refused to dismiss a class action by an organization for the blind challenging the accessibility of Target.com under the "public accommodation" provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Target contended that those provisions of the ADA related only to its "brick-and -mortar" stores. The court, however, found that Target’s website was a “gateway” to those stores and, as such, was subject to the ADA’s public accommodation requirements. National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corp.
The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability “in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods [and] services … of any place of public accommodation.” Places of public accommodation are usually physical spaces, such as hotels, restaurants, auditoriums, etc. However, because Target’s website was so “heavily integrated” with its stores, the court found that the website also had to meet the accessibility requirements of a public accommodation. Nevertheless, the court’s ruling was very limited: “to the extent that plaintiffs allege that the inaccessibility of Target.com impedes the full and equal enjoyment of goods and services offered in Target stores, the plaintiffs state a claim;” but to the extent the website does not affect their access to the stores, plaintiffs do not state a claim under the ADA.
The plaintiffs want Target to equip its website with “alternative text” – invisible code embedded beneath the graphics – to enable blind individuals to use the site with screen-reader software. Target provided affidavits from several blind individuals who were able to navigate its current website, while plaintiffs provided evidence of the site's inaccessibility. Based on the conflicting evidence, the court refused to enter an injunction compelling Target to make any immediate changes.
This decision comes very early in the life of the case, and the court granted Target’s motion to dismiss in several other respects. Nevertheless, companies with websites that are “heavily integrated” with goods or services available in their physical locations should consider whether their websites need to be upgraded to permit better accessibility. In addition, employers that use websites to post positions of employment and solicit applications need to ensure accessibility to disabled individuals under the ADA's employment discrimination provisions. Technical information on this issue can be found in the Web Content Accessibility standards set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium at www.w3c.org/wai.
If you have questions about the legal aspects of website accessibility, please contact the author at lail@elarbeethompson.com of the Elarbee Thompson attorney with whom you work.
