ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: A California State University

Meghan Downing, represented by Wilshire Law Firm, filed a class action complaint against a California state university in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on April 8, 2021. The plaintiff, who is visually impaired, alleges that the educational institution's website is inaccessible to blind and visually impaired individuals, violating Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act.

The lawsuit alleges several specific accessibility barriers on the defendant's website. These include a lack of alternative text (alt-text) for non-text elements and images, preventing screen readers from describing visual content. Additionally, the site features empty links without descriptive text, causing confusion for keyboard and screen-reader users. Redundant links leading to the same URL result in unnecessary navigation and repetition. Other issues highlighted are inaccessible Portable Document Format (PDFs), user interface elements that are not programmatically determined, and a lack of labels or instructions for user input fields.

This case underscores the significant legal risks faced by public accommodations, including educational institutions, that fail to ensure their digital platforms are fully accessible. Businesses and organizations operating websites that do not conform to established accessibility guidelines, such as WCAG 2.1, may be exposed to class action lawsuits, demands for injunctive relief to remediate their digital properties, and statutory damages for discrimination against users with disabilities.