Early in 2013, an agreement was reached in the accessibility lawsuit against Walt Disney Parks. The lawsuit, Shields vs. Walt Disney Parks, asserted that Disney did not adjust to California and Federal legal guidelines and discriminating against seeing impaired individuals by denying adequate admission to theme parks and the Disney website. The result of the issue demanded in a lengthy list of improvements and payouts that Walt Disney must comply with in a one years time. Today, the one-year mark is quickly approaching and soon Walt Disney’s accessibility will be evaluated. Yet, the bigger question and lesson learned in this case is understanding the weight and significance of having an accessible website. Every website should now assess if their site is accessible, failing to do will eventually lead to legal problems. This article highlights the lawsuit and aims to shed light on the vital importance of web accessibility.
In 2010, a trio of blind patrons filed a lawsuit against beloved theme park, declaring the web site was not accessible to them and did not comply with the American with Disabilities Act. The website problems were surrounding the auto play of the audio and video clips. The media clips made it difficult for those using a keyboard to browse the site and made it incompatible with assistive devices, mainly screen readers. The online resources also utilized Flash content material and did not provide alt text for images, further complicated the website for blind users.
Alongside the web accessibility charges, came problems with the actual physical park. Statements were made that the theme park did not offer reasonable modifications for individuals with impairments; such as refusing to allow the use of guide dogs, supplying audio assistance, and inability to supply schedules, menus, maps, etc. in Braille. The blind visitors argued that Disney and their websites do give adequate attention to the needs of individuals with visual impairments. Disney denied the accusations and further stated the corporation does not owe individuals with impairments anything, claiming issues around blind visitors should be looked at on a situational basis.
The suit continued for multiple years and confronted several due processes, until an agreement was settled on in 2013. A decision was made to separate the suit into four subclasses infrastructure, service animals, communication and website. Each of these national subclasses included an extensive amount of improvements that Disney is obligated to comply to within one year.
Walt Disney Parks will likely stick to the deadline and make the appropriate improvements to their websites and theme park locations to accommodate visually impaired consumers and avoid further legal problems. The aim and lesson in this situation, is that every corporation, organization and company should be asking, “Can everyone access our website?” The Walt Disney web accessibility lawsuit sets an example of the growing number of lawsuits against websites. Web pages ought to be accessible to all clients; failure to place accessibility standards can result in a serious lawsuit.
In 2010, a trio of blind patrons filed a lawsuit against beloved theme park, declaring the web site was not accessible to them and did not comply with the American with Disabilities Act. The website problems were surrounding the auto play of the audio and video clips. The media clips made it difficult for those using a keyboard to browse the site and made it incompatible with assistive devices, mainly screen readers. The online resources also utilized Flash content material and did not provide alt text for images, further complicated the website for blind users.
Alongside the web accessibility charges, came problems with the actual physical park. Statements were made that the theme park did not offer reasonable modifications for individuals with impairments; such as refusing to allow the use of guide dogs, supplying audio assistance, and inability to supply schedules, menus, maps, etc. in Braille. The blind visitors argued that Disney and their websites do give adequate attention to the needs of individuals with visual impairments. Disney denied the accusations and further stated the corporation does not owe individuals with impairments anything, claiming issues around blind visitors should be looked at on a situational basis.
The suit continued for multiple years and confronted several due processes, until an agreement was settled on in 2013. A decision was made to separate the suit into four subclasses infrastructure, service animals, communication and website. Each of these national subclasses included an extensive amount of improvements that Disney is obligated to comply to within one year.
Walt Disney Parks will likely stick to the deadline and make the appropriate improvements to their websites and theme park locations to accommodate visually impaired consumers and avoid further legal problems. The aim and lesson in this situation, is that every corporation, organization and company should be asking, “Can everyone access our website?” The Walt Disney web accessibility lawsuit sets an example of the growing number of lawsuits against websites. Web pages ought to be accessible to all clients; failure to place accessibility standards can result in a serious lawsuit.
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