ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: Online Home Goods Retailer

Plaintiff Portia Mason, represented by WILSHIRE LAW FIRM, filed a class action lawsuit on August 20, 2021, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against an online home goods retailer. The complaint alleges that the retailer's e-commerce website is not fully accessible to blind and visually-impaired individuals, thereby violating their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act.

The lawsuit details numerous accessibility barriers encountered by Plaintiff and proposed Class Members. These include a pervasive lack of alternative text for graphics and images, empty links lacking descriptive text, redundant links leading to repetitive navigation, and linked images also missing alternative text. Additionally, the website is alleged to fail in providing equivalent text for non-text elements and scripts, proper title frames for identification, forms with equivalent functionality, and the ability to resize text without losing content or functionality. Further barriers include enforcement of time limits without user control, unclear link purposes, indiscernible keyboard focus indicators, and poorly structured HTML elements including inaccessible Portable Document Format (PDFs).

This class action highlights the critical importance of digital accessibility for businesses operating online, especially those with physical locations. Businesses offering goods and services through e-commerce platforms risk similar litigation if their websites are not designed and maintained to be fully and equally accessible to visually-impaired customers using screen-reading software. Compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) is emphasized as a valuable resource to mitigate legal exposure and ensure equal access for all users.