The Target Corporation has agreed to pay $6 million in damages to plaintiffs in California unable to use its online site as part of a class-action settlement with the National Federation of the Blind.

As part of the settlement, announced Wednesday, Target will place $6 million in an interest-bearing account from which members of the California settlement class can make claims. The settlement also requires Target to use internal guidelines to make its site more accessible to the blind by Feb. 28, 2009, with assistance from the federation, an advocacy group for the blind.

The retailer and the National Federation of the Blind agreed to a three-year relationship during which the advocacy group will test the site to make sure it is accessible to the blind who use technologies like screen-reading software.