I’m not sure if I’m upset about this, or thankful for it, but recently the 11th district court of appeals upheld a lower court decision against the Disabilities group, Access Now, Inc.

Access Now, representing a blind man named Robert Gumson, sued Southwest Airlines for not providing access to their website that was friendly to the seeing impaired, according to the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Though the court ruled against Access Now, however, they left the door open for the future.

“In declining to evaluate the merits of this case, we are in no way unmindful that the legal questions raised are significant,” wrote Judge Stanley Marcus.

This is the first case where a decision was delivered on the matter. In recent years and months, there have been many suits settled out of court, but none have ended with an actual court decision.

What does this decision mean to the web? Actually, all it provides is a precedent whereto future cases can be referred for recommendation. For Southwest, it is a current victory but, then again, is it really a victory?

By refusing to merely update their existing site to provide access to, not just the blind, but all visually impaired people, they are effectually turning away hundreds of thousands of potential clients and a deep revenue source. Not to mention the statement this makes about their lack of concern for those with disabilities.

We’ll see how the future plays out with this.