ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: an online luxury men's apparel retailer
Plaintiff's Firm: WILSHIRE LAW FIRM
Case Summary
Brett DeSalvo, represented by WILSHIRE LAW FIRM, has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on January 29, 2020. The complaint targets an online luxury men's apparel retailer for alleged failures to provide a website fully accessible to blind and visually-impaired individuals, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act.
The lawsuit specifies numerous accessibility barriers on the e-commerce website, including a lack of alternative text for non-text elements and linked images, missing descriptive titles for web pages and title frames, and keyboard operability issues where the focus indicator is indiscernible. Other critical violations include forms not providing equal functionality for visually-impaired users, text that cannot be resized without loss of content, content enforcing time limits without user control, and inaccessible Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The complaint also cites issues with link purposes not being determinable, redundant links, and the default human language not being programmatically determined.
This action highlights the ongoing legal risks for businesses operating websites that do not adhere to established accessibility guidelines, such as WCAG 2.0/2.1. Companies in the retail sector, particularly those offering extensive product catalogs online, must ensure their digital platforms are designed, maintained, and operated to be fully and equally accessible to all users, including those relying on screen-reading software, to avoid similar legal challenges and potential injunctive relief and statutory damages.
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Case Q&A
What specific WCAG violations is this online luxury men's apparel retailer accused of?
The retailer is accused of several WCAG violations, including a lack of alternative text for non-text elements and linked images, missing descriptive titles for web pages and title frames, keyboard navigation issues where the focus indicator is indiscernible, and forms that do not provide equal functionality for visually-impaired users. Other violations include non-resizable text, content with uncontrollable time limits, and inaccessible PDFs.
Who filed this lawsuit, and which law firm?
Brett DeSalvo filed this lawsuit, and he is represented by WILSHIRE LAW FIRM.
What legal risk does this create?
This lawsuit demonstrates the significant legal risk that online retailers face if their websites are not fully accessible to disabled users. Businesses must proactively ensure their digital platforms comply with ADA Title III and WCAG guidelines to prevent class action litigation, demands for injunctive relief, and potential statutory damages.