Websites and discrimination

[Chucaro]

If this woman win her case the implications on other site will be serious indeed.
IMO this is going to far, what do you think?
I would shop in another site.

Blind woman launches claim of unlawful discrimination against Coles over website

[Eevo]

is anyone forcing her to shop with coles?

[JDNSW]

There is quite strict legislation requiring businesses dealing with the public to make their physical premises accessible to the disabled, although the feasibility of modifying access is taken into account, as is the size of the business.

This would seem to be a test case as to what extent the legislation applies to online activities. Regardless of the outcome, it is unlikely to be good advertising for Coles!

I rather doubt that the idea in Eevo's comment will have any impact on the court.

John

[Eevo]

I rather doubt that the idea in Eevo's comment will have any impact on the court.

it might.
the idea being legally, coles don't have to accommodate her as current law only applies to physical location, not websites.
why does the lady feel it is the sole responsibility of coles to cater for her needs?
the lady also has free choice to go online shopping with a competitor.
if there is no competitor that will deliver to her, thats not coles fault.
discrimination also implies coles went out of their way to make it more difficult for her.
although the article contains little detail and seems more interested in grabbing headlines, it sounds like she is using the legal system to get her own way.

[digger]

Although I can see the problem she is suing over,
I am afraid I put a little less weight on it as she is a regular
user of legal or media channels to promote her cause/s.

It will be interesting if this does proceed and if it does how would it be worded? and enforced..(who decides what is enough etc?)

[incisor]

Although I can see the problem she is suing over,
I am afraid I put a little less weight on it as she is a regular
user of legal or media channels to promote her cause/s.

ummmmm

having a relative who is extremely handicapped and having seen what she has had to overcome over the years

sometimes this sort of behavior is the only way you can get things fixed so you get anything like the same sort of service

not sure i agree 100% with this one tho i have to say...

[Greatsouthernland]

Why pick coles and not Woolworths?

Did she mention coles or were they cited by the media and we don't have full details of her claim...it may mention both, but as usual key bits of info get missed in media reports and there is often a parallel slant/agenda by the reporting media....i.e. advertising revenue/past dealings/reporter bias..

Edit - having now read the article ( not just the headline -
Blind woman's bid to bring down Coles - used on yahoo...)

It seems the changes to the service (she had relied on) then caused it to become unreliable or unusable, at least in terms of time efficiency.

Seems legitimate, I wonder if Woolies does it better,,worth switching then..? I see woolies are advertising flat out their online shopping with baits like 10% off first purchase and free home delivery for a month. Seems like they think it's good marketing to capitulate on the competitor's negative press...or kicking a fellow competitor when they're down...either or I suppose...

[Bytemrk]

This will be interesting to watch.

I am all for big businesses doing all that is reasonable to ensure accessibility for those with various disabilities.

I guess the ultimate question is whether this is reasonable or not. Certainly not enough information in that article to make a clear decision IMHO.

[JDNSW]

Why pick coles and not Woolworths?

Did she mention coles or were they cited by the media and we don't have full details of her claim...it may mention both, but as usual key bits of info get missed in media reports and there is often a parallel slant/agenda by the reporting media....i.e. advertising revenue/past dealings/reporter bias..

As reported, the case is based on Coles website being unnecessarily inaccessible to a handicapped (blind) user. It is quite possible that Woolworths website is much better in that respect, although in any such legal action a plaintiff would normally only sue one business first and then ask their competitors nicely to fix their similar problems - which, if the first case was won, would probably not even require a solicitor's letter!

The legal action is about the specific website, and it has been mentioned that Coles did improve the problems but then an update took them back to just as bad as at the start.

John

[Greatsouthernland]

As reported, the case is based on Coles website being unnecessarily inaccessible to a handicapped (blind) user. It is quite possible that Woolworths website is much better in that respect, although in any such legal action a plaintiff would normally only sue one business first and then ask their competitors nicely to fix their similar problems - which, if the first case was won, would probably not even require a solicitor's letter!

The legal action is about the specific website, and it has been mentioned that Coles did improve the problems but then an update took them back to just as bad as at the start.

John

Hi John, yes agreed, thanks for the reply. I'd also managed to read it since my first post, so I updated that too. we'll see what else comes out. I find it amusing that woolies seemingly has upped the ads for its service or I notice them more since reading this article ?