ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: An Online Seafood Retailer

Plaintiff REBECCA CASTILLO, represented by MANNING LAW, APC, has filed a federal civil rights action in the United States District Court, Central District of California, on April 30, 2020. The lawsuit targets an online seafood retailer for its alleged failure to provide a fully accessible and independently usable website for blind and visually-impaired individuals, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act.

The complaint details several specific accessibility barriers encountered by REBECCA CASTILLO, including graphics, links, and buttons that are unlabeled, incorrectly labeled, or lack alternative text (Alt-text); multiple pages containing insufficient navigational headings; an inaccessible signup system preventing account creation; inaccessible product links and descriptions; and inaccessible location links. These widespread issues deny full and equal access to the digital platform's content, products, and services for screen-reader users.

This action highlights the ongoing legal risk for online businesses that fail to ensure their digital platforms comply with federal and state accessibility laws. Companies operating e-commerce websites, especially those integrated with brick-and-mortar locations, face potential injunctions, statutory damages, and legal fees if their sites are not equally and independently usable by all consumers, including those with visual impairments.