Screen Reader Advocates Zero
in on Target Web Site
by Clarence Schadegg
In February
a grassroots group of blind people filed a class action lawsuit
against the Target Corporation. When negotiations broke down, the
National Federation of the Blind (NFB) filed a class action lawsuit
against the Target Corporation. The lawsuit is about alleged problems
blind people have with a Web site that is not totally compatible
with screen reading programs.
The two types of screen reader programs
that are available are Job Access With Speech (JAWS) and Window
Eyes (WE), and the primary visual design of this Web site made
it impossible for blind screen reader users/consumers to access
the same information as sighted consumers. Target’s Web site seems to be designed to give sighted people
easy access with the use of the mouse. But blind people who use screen
reader programs, like those cited above; use keystrokes on the keyboard
rather then the mouse. As a JAWS user, I had trouble navigating around
the Target Web site. Part of the problem had to do with the way the
Web site was constructed. The Web site has coding errors which make
it hard for blind screen reader users. According to David Andrews,
Chief Technology Officer, Minnesota State Services for the Blind, “There
is some kind of control on the page, to check out, that can only
be clicked with a mouse. Neither WE nor JAWS sees it. You can click
one click checkout, or check out, and the same page keeps coming
up. So, the site is virtually unusable for a blind person using a
screen reader. It might be used to tell you what Target has, but
little else.”
The NFB charges “that Target’s Web site www.target.
com is inaccessible to the blind, violating the California Unruh
Civil Rights Act and the California Disabled Persons Act.” (NFB
Web site – Target Corporation Sued for Discrimination Against
the Blind, February 7, 2006). But according to the Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer (CEO), Bob Ulrich, “Target has always been
committed to respecting diversity. Our definition is broad, inclusive
and focused on recognizing and appreciating the individuality of
every team member, guest and community member. As one of our core
values, our commitment to diversity is not something we simply talk
about; it is something—we act on…”
A Target representative responded
to my question, what is Target’s
position on the class action lawsuit? The representative told me
that Target cannot comment on an ongoing litigation.
Will this lawsuit allow all blind people to gain better access to
the Target Web site if a court rules in favor of the NFB? Target
Corporation may upgrade its Web site to be more inclusive to the
blind and/or screen reader technicians may upgrade as well as invent
software programs to better read difficult Web sites. One such device
which is stated to do just that is the recently invented Freedom
Box, a card size rectangular disc which can be used in a CD slot
on any PC with or without JAWS.
According to Mike Calvo, CEO of Twin
Cities based Serotek Corporation, “Wherever
the site designer provides alternate text, both Freedom Box and JAWS
will read it. In the absence of alternate text, Freedom Box will
try to obtain a label using our C-SAW technology. C-SAW, which stands
for Community-Supported Accessible Web, lets our users label graphical
links and share those labels with other users. Users submit their
labels to a central repository on the Freedom Box Network, from which
the Freedom Box software tries to obtain labels whenever another
user visits a Web site. C-SAW lets users make Web sites accessible
when the site designers haven’t done so. We’ve offered
to license C-SAW to Freedom Scientific for inclusion in JAWS, but
they haven’t accepted the offer. Currently, C-SAW is only available
exclusively through Freedom Box and System Access.”
The NFB “sued Target Corp. in Alameda County Superior Court
claiming that the giant retail chain discriminates because its Web
site is inaccessible to blind customers… Target thus excludes
the blind from full and equal participation in the growing Internet
economy that is increasingly a fundamental part of daily life”...
It was alleged in the lawsuit that there was a “lack of access.” The
key strokes make it possible for those of us
who are blind screen reader users to navigate around Web sites.
Unlike the mouse, key strokes allow screen reader users to navigate
a Web site by a single key strokes or key stroke combinations. A
Web site that is user friendly to screen readers will allow those
of us who are blind to access as much information as sighted people
who choose to use the mouse.
A lawsuit filed against Target in
California will certainly affect the future on-line shopping access
opportunities of blind people across the United States. Target
Corporation’s headquarters
is located in Minneapolis. I’ve often shopped at the downtown
Minneapolis Target store, and the staff was exceedingly helpful to
me. The Target employees were aware of my blindness. The clerks often
read the printed product information to me and/or they took me to
where the products were located in the store. With my products in
hand, I took them to the cashier to purchase them. But I could not
perform the same purchase task on the Target Web site. When I open
the Web site my cursor should be placed at the top of the frame,
not at the bottom. I can read some information in the particular
tables, but I wasn’t sure that the details I read were for
a sweater or a shirt. In short, the Web site was confusing to me.
The two Target representatives I talked with were unable to help
me easily navigate around the site like sighted people do. I also
talked with five blind people who use screen reader programs, and
all of us came up with the same results. The Web site was designed
in a way in which we had limited navigation ability. I rely on JAWS
to read everything to me. Web sites with a lot of graphics, visual
displays for sighted people, cannot be read by screen readers. With
our screen readers unable to read visual graphics, those of us who
use JAWS or WE cannot make the same decision and/or perform the same
action on such a Web site as we can inside the store.
As a concerned blind person, I want
to see a mutually beneficial outcome for the Target Corporation
and for blind people in general. Technology is in a constant state
of improvement, and it is realistic for blind screen reader users
to access the same information as sighted people if the Web site
is modified for easy screen reader use. Such a thing won’t interfere with the graphic depiction of colorful
clothing, or other items shown as graphic symbols for a sighted consumer.
With tags, blind people can read the details of products that sighted
people see. It is a mutually winnable situation for the Target Corporation,
blind people and sighted people. Target’s willingness to be
inclusive to blind people is an important step to provide us with
essentially the same access to the sale of products as any other
consumer. With a user friendly screen reader Web site, it will make
my tasks easier to research details about certain products of interest.
And this lawsuit may make it possible for blind consumers to allow
us to be more independent in our search on the Web. According to
the NFB, blind people “access Web sites by using keyboards
in conjunction with screen-reading software which vocalizes visual
information on a computer screen. Target’s Web site—which
according to its home page is “powered by Amazon.com”—contains
significant access barriers that prevent blind customers from browsing
and purchasing products online, as well as from finding important
corporate information such as employment opportunities, investor
news, and company policies. The plaintiffs charge that www.target.com
fails to meet the minimum standard of Web accessibility. It lacks
compliant alt-text, an invisible code embedded beneath graphic images
that allows screen readers to detect and vocalize a description of
the image to a blind computer user. It also contains inaccessible
image maps, preventing blind users from jumping to different destinations
within the Web site. And because the Web site requires the use of
a mouse to complete a transaction, blind Target customers are unable
to make purchases on Target.com independently.” – (“Target
Corporation Sued for Discrimination against the Blind, February 7,
2006).
My statements were made independent of those made by any organization
and organization representative cited in this article. Blind screen
reader users have diverse viewpoints about this lawsuit, and this
is something which will be revisited in the future. All of us, blind
or sighted, need help periodically. The advancement in technology
has leveled the playing field, so to speak, a little more in favor
of a more fully inclusive public Web site like that of Target Corporation.
Target has a great opportunity to live up to its pledge as a store
that is inclusive and committed to diversity whether it is total
free access on the Web or in the store.
Perhaps Target Web technicians could work with JAWS and Window
Eyes technicians to collaborate on ways for blind screen reader
users to have better access in all parts of Target’s Web
site. Responses to this article can be sent to me, Clarence Schadegg,
at cschadegg@mn.rr.com. I look forward to reading your comments.
