FodnessMemo27

Imagine using the Internet without the use of your eyes. Pointing, clicking, images, visual layout, colors - all are useless. You have to rely on software that reads the text on the screen to you through your computer speakers. For a blind person, relying on accessibility features such as alternate text for images is absolutely essential to being able to successfully navigate through a website. A blind person using Target's website prior to 2006, browsing for products to buy online, would be presented with a seemingly random string of letters and numbers as "descriptions" for images. They would be completely unable to tell the difference between a picture of a Dyson vacuum cleaner, a picture advertisement, the picture used as a border graphic, and the "Add to Cart" graphic. Therefore, a user's blindness effectively prevented them from using Target's website to purchase products. It didn't have to be this way.