It is now not only a smart move on the part of web developers to make sure their web site is compliant with the ADA and W3C standards for search engine ranking, but there is now a legal reason to do so. A California judge has allowed a case against the retail store; target’s web site must make their web site accessible to the blind under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Google states in their web master guidelines that this should be so, and now it seems the judicial system agrees with the search juggernaut. It seems rather strange, if you think about it. Through its marketing promotions, Target seeks to reach greater numbers of customers and increase its customer-base, while on the other hand it seeks to make its web site difficult if not impossible for many of its potential customers to access.

Based on W3C standards, what Target must do is make sure all images on the site have alt tags. Their must be no textual images without these tags, and text needs to be formatted with cascading style sheets. They need to use image map and text for hotspots. Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, and descriptions of video. Provide alternative content in case active features are inaccessible or unsupported.