ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: Online Restaurant
Plaintiff's Firm: WILSHIRE LAW FIRM
Case Summary
Nataly Morales, represented by WILSHIRE LAW FIRM, filed an ADA Title III class action lawsuit on August 27, 2021, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, alleging that the website of an online restaurant is inaccessible to visually-impaired users.
The complaint details numerous WCAG violations, including the absence of alternative text for non-text elements and images within links, empty links without descriptive text, and redundant links. Further accessibility barriers include missing page titles, unclear link purposes, non-discernible keyboard focus indicators, and the inability to resize text without losing content. The plaintiff also identifies issues with forms, scripts, time limits, default human language, changes in context upon focus or input, missing labels for user input, and markup errors, all contributing to an inaccessible user experience for screen reader users, including inaccessible PDF documents.
This lawsuit highlights the ongoing legal risks for businesses whose digital platforms are not fully accessible to individuals with disabilities. Companies operating online restaurants or similar service-based websites should proactively audit their digital properties against WCAG 2.1 guidelines to avoid potential litigation under ADA Title III and state-level civil rights acts.
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Case Q&A
What specific WCAG violations is this online restaurant accused of?
The online restaurant's website is accused of lacking alternative text for images and non-text elements, having empty links, redundant links, and missing page titles. Other violations include issues with keyboard navigation focus, text resizing, inaccessible forms, scripts, time limits, and non-programmatically determined UI elements, which hinder screen reader functionality and overall accessibility.
Who filed this lawsuit, and which law firm?
Nataly Morales filed this lawsuit, represented by the law firm WILSHIRE LAW FIRM.
What legal risk does this create?
This case signifies a substantial legal risk for businesses, particularly those in the online restaurant industry, with websites that do not comply with digital accessibility standards like WCAG 2.1. Non-compliance can lead to ADA Title III litigation, resulting in demands for injunctive relief to remediate the website, statutory damages, attorney fees, and costs.