Target settles suit over Web access

Target Corp. will pay $6 million to settle a two-year-old class-action lawsuit alleging that visually impaired people were blocked from using the Target.com website by technical incompatibilities the company declined to fix.

The federal lawsuit was filed in San Francisco by the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind on behalf of California consumers who were unable to use elements of Target.com. The suit claimed that the lack of accessibility violated two California laws. An earlier claim that it also violated federal law was thrown out by the court.

Visually impaired people can access websites by using keyboard controls to move the mouse and by listening to special text-to-speech software that reads aloud the contents of the site. The software reads not just words, but also verbally identifies website features such as animated buttons, Web links and drop-down menus.

The suit alleged that blind consumers were unable to make purchases on Target.com in 2006 because the "checkout" button could not be read by the text-to-speech software due to technical problems on the website.

"We were not expecting that their website be in Braille or that they make any huge changes, just that they designed the site in a standard way so our software would work," said Steve Jacobson, a 3M computer analyst who also is vice president of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota.

"Lots of other large corporation websites have dealt with this successfully," he said, citing Wells Fargo's online banking website as an example.

Case won't go to trial

While the changes required to make Target.com compatible with the text-to-speech software were not technically difficult, "they did not want to talk to us about it," Jacobson said. He gave technical depositions in the case, and expected to testify as an expert witness had the suit gone to trial.

Target's initial response to complaints was simply that its website complied with existing laws. The company now acknowledges that technical problems in 2006 complicated accessibility for blind consumers, said Target spokeswoman Lena Michaud. More enhancements will be completed by Feb. 28, 2009, as required by the settlement, she said.

"In 2006, many things on the website were accessible to visually impaired people, and some were not," Michaud said. "What's important is that we have been working continuously as the website and the technology have improved."

Jacobson agreed with that assessment. "Target has made a positive shift to dealing with the problem," he said.

Under the settlement, the $6 million will be split by an undetermined number of blind consumers, who must submit sworn statements of their inability to use the Target website to qualify for up to $3,500 per incident, with maximum claims of $7,000.

In addition, the settlement requires that Target and the Federation for the Blind work together for three years to test Target.com's accessibility for visually impaired consumers. Based on improvements expected to be completed in February, the federation would award Target its "Non-visual Accessibility Web Certification," Michaud said.

Steve Alexander • 612-673-4553