ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: an online restaurant service

Plaintiff Meghan Downing has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on July 27, 2021, against an online restaurant service. The complaint alleges that the e-commerce website is not fully and equally accessible to and independently usable by visually-impaired individuals, including those who rely on screen-reading software.

The lawsuit details several WCAG violations, including a lack of alternative text for graphics and images, empty links without descriptive text, redundant links causing repetitive navigation, and linked images missing alt-text. Further allegations include issues with keyboard operability, forms not providing the same functionality as for sighted persons, content not rendering into text, and inaccessible Portable Document Format (PDFs). These barriers deny blind and visually-impaired users full and equal access to information about menu items, restaurant locations, and online ordering, as well as the ability to complete purchases.

This action highlights the significant legal exposure for similar businesses that fail to ensure their digital platforms are fully accessible to visually-impaired users, potentially leading to costly litigation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, alongside demands for injunctive relief and statutory damages.