Katrina Replies ..Let's face it, inaccessibility is basically very bad manners. Most manners are socially re-enforced, however, when manners degrade beyond a certain point, then they are legislated against, for example, jay-walking, swearing, vandalism, theft, etc. That's what we are talking about: legislating against very bad manners, that is, discrimination against disability.
Profitability or cost doesn't come into the equation. - Christie responds - My soul cringed when I read "legislating against very bad manners" It can't be done, it shouldn't be attempted. Sounds like you haven't been listening to the TV, or reading many popular magazines, or delved into social sites on the 'net. Bad manners are in, they're praised and encouraged by popular culture. They're defended by law. Target could have put up any/all the swear words it wanted and there would be no recourse. I've often wondered how swearing and rudeness became profitable and culturally sanctioned. Vandalism and theft are about taking of private property. When is a property private and when is a property public? That's the ongoing debate. We are legislating behavior in the private sphere more than at any other time through the simple spin of declaring private property to be in the public realm. To me that's a form of theft, but that's a different discussion. To move from political to the practical. Etiquette cannot be legislated. Culture cannot be legislated. No one has a "right" to shop at Target. This is about a business so, of course, it's about $. The lawyers will make $ from this, Target will pay $ to either change, or pay $ to not change either through lost sales and/or legal penalties. People and organizations only change to avoid pain. Organizations feel pain when they have decreased income or increased expenses - less $. Target perceives the cost of changing exceeds the cost of not changing. I don't think it would cost that much to change the site, but that's not their perception. Yes, laws can inflict pain but not enough for real change. I've always thought that most laws are enacted because people are too lazy to fight for real, lasting, culturally significant change. Our politicians have become the "someone" in "someone should do something about that" instead of "I" or "we" "should do something about that". It's very, very difficult to defend the Target site, it's an unusable mess so I don't use it, but Target does have the right to have a bad site. They have the right to lose $. Christie Mason ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *******************************************************************
