SmallBusinessNewz

Those of you selling online may want to start paying closer attention to the accessibility of your site if you are not already doing so. Last week, Target settled a lawsuit with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), paying out upwards of $5 million because their site was not deemed accessible enough.

The biggest issue the NFB took with the site was the lack of "alt" attributes in image tags, which are used by screen readers to dictate a page's content to the visually impaired. Now the NFB did not exactly win the case. Target just settled with them, in what some think was just to avoid any further trouble and bad press.

What This Means for eCommerce Businesses

What businesses may have to worry about are more similar suits popping up. Since Target settled, it may encourage others to give the court room a shot.

To be fair, having an accessible site is always a good thing. You may even be missing out on potential customers if you lack accessibility. The suit has been very controversial though, because a lot of people feel like they shouldn't be forced to comply with one organization's criteria for what makes their lives easier. There are valid points to both sides of the argument.

When I tackled the subject on WebProNews recently, we received quite a few comments arguing both sides. Many of them are very interesting, ranging from:

If they don't make the site accessible, shop somewhere else!!! What next, sue a website for not have correct color schemes...

and

Maybe the NFB needs to take cause with the screen readers - why does everything have to conform to everybody?

to

It costs nothing to make a web site right in the first place and with a little effort you can dramatically increase your audience and customer base as well as make everyone users experience on your site better and oh yea - probably get better SE rankings.

Like I said, accessibility is definitely a positive aspect for your site to have. It will only help your reputation. If your site is not 100% accessible, though, you probably don't need to freak out too badly. The Target case may cause many to evaluate the status of their own sites. Just remember that Target chose to settle.