Aside from both having great delivery?
They both now have accessibility woes!
While many organizations have already prioritized tackling accessibility issues they find on their website as outlined by WCAG, 2019 presents a couple of high name companies being put on notice that they should be ensuring equal access to their website and application experiences for people with disabilities.
The court filing against Beyoncé for her website highlights that the website breaks many of the guidelines outlined by at least two basic principles of WCAG accessibility standards. The website is not navigable to people who only utilize a keyboard and not understandable to people using a screen reader.
The recent verdict against Domino’s is possibly more interesting, reaffirming that companies need to strive towards an accessible experience. The quote that stands out to me from the verdict:
Domino’s has received fair notice that its website and app must provide effective communication and facilitate “full and equal enjoyment” of Domino’s goods and services to its customers who are disabled. Our Constitution does not require that Congress or DOJ spell out exactly how Domino’s should fulfill this obligation..
What stands out with this quote is that:
- Websites and applications should be usable by all web visitors.
- Domino’s was given time to remediate issues.
- And finally, just because there is no specific legal regulation that is broken to make the site inaccessible, that does not preclude a company from being accessible.
Being a fan of Beyoncé, it makes me sad that some of her fans would be put out by her website. I hope she can quickly upgrade her website to adopt accessibility practices to enable all of her visitors to access her music and merchandise.
The first step is likely to run an audit to get the full scope of the website's issues. And I have to say, DubBot can help with that. All she has to do is Say My Name, Say My Name, Say My Name! We’d gladly help find the solution!
Seriously, how do you write anything about Beyoncé without singing her songs?
Want to read more? This is where I first read about these lawsuits:
