Target will make Web site accessible to blind

"We hope that what Target does can be used as an example for other retailers," said attorney Julia Pinover of Disability Rights Advocates. "It can demystify how to become accessible."

The company must now equip its Web site, www.target.com, with an embedded code that can be read by software to provide a vocal description of the page, and links that allow a blind person to navigate the screen with a keyboard instead of a mouse.

Steve Eastman, president of the Web site, said the company was pleased to have reached the settlement and would work with the federation on further refinements. "Target is committed to serving all our guests," he said in a statement.

Target has 230 stores in California and more than 1,600 nationwide. In its lawsuit, the federation accused the company of violating federal and state laws that entitle the disabled to equal access to business and government services.

In a key ruling, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel refused to dismiss the suit in September 2006. Rejecting Target's argument that the discrimination laws prohibit only physical barriers to a company's stores or products, she said the American With Disabilities Act requires removal of all barriers to "a disabled person's 'full enjoyment' of goods or services," quoting from the 1990 law.

Wednesday's settlement, subject to Patel's approval, incudes $6 million for legally blind Californians who have tried to access target.com since February 2003, using their own screen-reader software, and have failed because of the site's limitations.