Gisele Mesnage, who is vision impaired, uses screen
reading technology (which converts screen text to speech) to
navigate internet sites. Coles (that supermarket giant) offers its
goods and services online through its website. Ms Mesnage claims
that Coles' online shopping site is partly incompatible with
the screen reading technology making it extremely difficult for her
to use the service independently.
In what appears to be the first Court action based on web
accessibility (the AHRC ruled on this issue back in 2000), Ms
Mesnage has lodged a claim in the Federal Circuit Court claiming
Coles has discriminated against her on the basis of her
disability.
The Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act places a general
prohibition on discrimination in, among other things, the provision
of goods and services (including those provided online). That
includes indirect discrimination, so Coles' blanket
requirements that all customers use an incompatible website could
fall
