ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: Fast-Food Restaurant Chain
Plaintiff's Firm: WILSHIRE LAW FIRM
Case Summary
Thuy Thanh Alonzo, represented by Wilshire Law Firm, has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on July 30, 2021, against a fast-food restaurant chain. The complaint alleges that the restaurant chain's website is inaccessible to visually-impaired individuals, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act.
The lawsuit details numerous accessibility barriers on the defendant's website, including a lack of alternative text for non-text elements and images, empty links without descriptive text, redundant links, and linked images missing alt-text. Further allegations include the absence of title frames for navigation, equivalent text for scripts, forms not fully accessible, content presentation relying solely on visual elements, inability to resize text, time limits without user control, missing page titles, unclear link purposes, keyboard operability issues with an indiscernible focus indicator. The complaint also highlights issues with programmatically determined language and context changes upon component focus, user interface component settings causing unadvised context changes, missing labels for user input, and inaccessible Portable Document Format (PDFs).
This litigation highlights the significant legal risks faced by online businesses, particularly those in the food service industry, if their digital platforms fail to meet accessibility standards such as WCAG 2.1. Non-compliance can lead to class action lawsuits, demands for injunctive relief to remediate inaccessible websites, and statutory damages under both federal and state accessibility laws, underscoring the critical need for comprehensive digital accessibility.
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Case Q&A
What specific WCAG violations is this fast-food restaurant chain accused of?
The lawsuit alleges violations including lack of alternative text for non-text elements and images, empty links, redundant links, linked images missing alt-text, no title frames for identification and navigation, equivalent text not provided for scripts, inaccessible forms, and content information conveyed solely by visual presentation. It also mentions issues with text resizing, time limits, missing web page titles, unclear link purposes, keyboard operability lacking focus indicators, and programmatically undetermined language, as well as inaccessible Portable Document Format (PDFs).
Who filed this lawsuit, and which law firm?
Thuy Thanh Alonzo filed this lawsuit, represented by Wilshire Law Firm.
What legal risk does this create?
This case demonstrates the legal risk for businesses whose websites are not accessible to visually-impaired individuals, potentially leading to class action lawsuits, injunctive relief, and statutory damages under the ADA and state civil rights acts.