ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: Online Golf and Tennis Retailer

Plaintiff Portia Mason, represented by Wilshire Law Firm, has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on September 10, 2021. The complaint targets an online golf and tennis retailer for alleged failures to provide a website accessible to blind and visually-impaired individuals, in violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act.

The lawsuit details numerous alleged WCAG violations on the defendant's website, including a lack of alternative text for non-text elements and linked images, missing title frames for identification and navigation, and a failure to provide equivalent text when using scripts. Other cited barriers include forms that do not offer the same information and functionality as for sighted users, content whose meaning is conveyed solely through visual presentation, and text that cannot be resized up to 200% without loss of functionality. Further allegations mention web pages lacking descriptive titles, unclear link purposes, and keyboard operable user interfaces that lack a discernible focus indicator, along with inaccessible Portable Document Format (PDFs).

This legal action underscores the significant compliance risks faced by online businesses and service providers if their digital platforms do not meet established accessibility standards. Organizations operating similar e-commerce websites or digital services that are not fully accessible to disabled users could face comparable class action lawsuits, requiring extensive injunctive relief to remediate accessibility barriers and potentially incurring substantial statutory damages.