What started out as a battle last year between one blind student from University of California-Berkley and Target has morphed into a class-action lawsuit against the retailer.
The case focuses on Target's alleged failure to use alt tags in the HTML of its Web site -- features that not only make a site more search-friendly, but make it accessible (and easy to navigate) by
screen -eading software for the blind.
Judge Marilyn Patel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California certified a national class in the case on Friday, and
rejected Target's motion for summary judgment. Moving forward, the retailer could be charged for discriminating against blind persons and be forced to pay hefty damages. While smaller sites may not
face nearly as much scrutiny, the ruling stands as a reminder for how critical the use of alt tags is. (As if the search community needed another one!)
Read the whole story at Ars Technica »