posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 3:11 PM
by
Rod Satterwhite
Blind Patrons Sue over Website Accessibility
An advocacy group for the blind has sued retailer Target over their web site, alleging that the site is not sufficiently usable by blind patrons. Read the full story here. While the suit is not an employment matter, it highlights an issue we've been thumping our chest about for years: if you recruit applicants via your web site, you should consider an audit to make sure it's sufficiently accessible to web surfers with disabilities. The Target suit, for example, alleges that certain functions cannot be performed without a mouse, which is difficult if not impossible to emulate with the computer equipment used by blind patrons. Another example is the allged failure of Target to make us of the "Alt-Text" option available in web programming, which substitutes a text description of graphics when the graphic itself isn't visible. So again I say: if you use your external web site for recruiting or accepting employment applications (or for any other HR function for that matter), you should to at a minimum assess the accessibility of the site to the disabled, or provide a reasaonable alternative for the application process. Just a little food for thought . . .