mediajunk

Wired News reports on the phenomenon of guerrilla web makeovers:

Web users frustrated by poorly designed sites are increasingly applying that logic to the Net.

Many who are fed up with high-profile design mess-ups are taking it upon themselves to publicly correct conspicuous corporate faux pas, right under embarrassed proprietors' noses.

Those who take it upon themselves to redesign corporate or other large sites, and host them on their own servers, may be threatened with legal action, however. Some already have.

But Wired points out (and I agree) that, rather than trying to sue, companies that get guerrilla-redesigned should ask themselves why. In fact, if a company's site is unusable or inaccessible to certain groups of users, it could end up in court:

With the United Kingdom's anti-discrimination Disability Rights Commission saying it is "only a matter of time" before companies are sued for having inaccessible websites, usability is gaining a higher profile.

Judy Brewer, director of the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative, said the consortium's standards ensure a good experience for both disabled and other users -- if designers play by the rules.