Target Web Accessibility Lawsuit Settlement Notice
On August 27, 2008, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and Target settled a class action lawsuit regarding access to the Target.com Web site by people who are blind and who use assistive technology to access Web sites. The notice of class action settlement states, "If you are a legally blind individual who has attempted to access Target.com since February 7, 2003 you have two options concerning the settlement: (1) you may do nothing and be bound by the terms of the settlement; or
(2) you may object to the settlement, in which case you must follow the procedures set forth below." In addition, people who are blind who accessed the Target Web site while in California during that time may submit a claim for monetary damages. All claims must be submitted by January 8, 2009. For more information about the notice of class action and how to submit a claim form, see NFB v. Target Notice of Class Action (PDF file)
Background
The lawsuit was originally filed in Febuary 2006 by Bruce F. Sexton, Jr., who lives in California and is blind, and the NFB of California. NFB alleged that Target had not made the minimum changes necessary to its Web site to make the site compatible with screen reading software and that this violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and other California state laws. The inaccessibility of the Web site did not allow customers using screen readers to access the site to purchase products, redeem gift cards, find Target stores, and perform other functions available to sighted customers. In October 2007, the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California certified the case as a class action on behalf of a nationwide class and a California subclass. The settlement was finalized August 27, 2008.
Terms of the settlement agreement include that Target will establish a $6 million fund from which members of the California settlement class can make claims. The NFB will also work with Target to perform accessibility testing and will certify the site through NFB's Nonvisual Accessibility Web Certification program.
For more information
For more information, read the Final Settlement Agreement. Links to additional information, such as court documents, the press release, and the Claim Form for the California class are available on a Web site established in accordance with the court order issued: NFB Target Lawsuit Site.
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