ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: An Online Furniture Retailer

Plaintiff Portia Mason, represented by WILSHIRE LAW FIRM, filed a class action lawsuit against an online furniture retailer in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on August 17, 2021. The complaint alleges that the defendant's e-commerce website is inaccessible to blind and visually-impaired individuals, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act.

The lawsuit details numerous accessibility barriers, including a lack of alternative text for non-text elements and linked images, absence of text equivalents for scripts, and forms that are not equally functional for all users. Further allegations include issues with keyboard navigation (such as a lack of discernible focus indicators and changes in context upon receiving focus), links with unclear purposes (empty links, redundant links), and content that cannot be resized without losing functionality. The complaint also cites missing page titles, inaccessible Portable Document Format (PDFs), and a failure to programmatically determine user interface element names and roles.

This legal action highlights the ongoing risks for businesses operating digital platforms that do not comply with web accessibility standards like WCAG 2.1. Non-compliance can lead to federal and state lawsuits, demanding costly injunctions for website modifications, statutory damages of $4,000 per offense per person under California law, and attorneys' fees and expenses. The case serves as a critical reminder for all online retailers to ensure their websites are fully accessible to disabled users to avoid similar legal challenges.