ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: Hospitality Company
Plaintiff's Firm: WILSHIRE LAW FIRM
Case Summary
Plaintiff Thuy Thanh Alonzo, represented by WILSHIRE LAW FIRM, filed an ADA Title III lawsuit on August 10, 2021, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, against a hospitality company operating restaurants. The plaintiff alleges that the company's website fails to be fully and equally accessible to visually impaired individuals, violating their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act.
The lawsuit details numerous alleged accessibility barriers, including a critical lack of alternative text for non-text elements and images, empty links without descriptive text, and redundant links causing repetitive navigation. Furthermore, the complaint asserts that the website's user interface lacks a discernible keyboard focus indicator, hindering keyboard-only navigation. Other issues cited involve forms that do not provide equivalent information and functionality for sighted and non-sighted users, content that cannot be resized without functionality loss, and inaccessible Portable Document Format (PDFs).
This litigation highlights significant legal risks for other hospitality companies and online restaurant operators whose digital platforms do not comply with ADA Title III and WCAG 2.1 guidelines. Businesses with similar accessibility shortcomings may face demands for permanent injunctions to remediate their websites, potential statutory minimum damages of $4,000 per offense in California, and liability for attorneys' fees and costs.
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Case Q&A
What specific WCAG violations is this hospitality company accused of?
This hospitality company is accused of lacking alternative text for non-text elements and linked images, having empty and redundant links, failing to provide discernible keyboard focus indicators, offering forms without equivalent functionality, and including inaccessible Portable Document Format (PDFs).
Who filed this lawsuit, and which law firm?
The lawsuit was filed by Thuy Thanh Alonzo, represented by WILSHIRE LAW FIRM.
What legal risk does this create for similar businesses?
This creates a legal risk for similar businesses of facing demands for permanent injunctions to remediate their websites, statutory minimum damages of $4,000 per offense in California, and liability for attorneys' fees and costs due to non-compliance with ADA Title III and WCAG 2.1 guidelines.