ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: Upscale Beauty Retailer
Plaintiff's Firm: WILSHIRE LAW FIRM, PLC
Case Summary
Portia Mason has filed a class action lawsuit against an upscale beauty retailer in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on September 10, 2021. Represented by WILSHIRE LAW FIRM, PLC, the plaintiff alleges that the retailer's e-commerce website is inaccessible to blind and visually-impaired individuals.
The complaint details numerous WCAG violations, including the lack of alternative text for non-text elements and linked images, missing title frames for identification, unavailable equivalent text for scripts, and forms not providing the same functionality as for sighted users. Further issues involve text resizing limitations, enforced time limits without user control, missing page titles, and keyboard navigation deficiencies where focus indicators are indiscernible. The website also allegedly fails to programmatically determine the default human language, initiates context changes upon focus without warning, lacks labels or instructions for user input, and contains markup language errors, inaccessible PDFs, and unprogrammatically determined UI elements.
This action highlights the significant legal risks faced by an online beauty retailer if their digital platforms fail to meet accessibility standards under ADA Title III and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act. Businesses operating similar e-commerce websites must ensure comprehensive WCAG compliance to avoid potential class action litigation, including demands for injunctive relief and statutory damages for accessibility barriers that deter disabled users.
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Case Q&A
What specific WCAG violations is this upscale beauty retailer accused of?
The complaint alleges violations including lack of alternative text for non-text elements and linked images, missing title frames for navigation, absent equivalent text for scripts, non-functional forms for visually-impaired users, text resizing issues, enforced time limits, missing page titles, and keyboard navigation problems. Other issues cited are unprogrammatically determined default language, automatic context changes, missing labels for user input, markup errors, inaccessible PDFs, and unprogrammatically determined user interface elements.
Who filed this lawsuit, and which law firm?
Portia Mason, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated, filed this lawsuit. She is represented by WILSHIRE LAW FIRM, PLC.
What legal risk does this create?
This case exposes similar e-commerce websites to potential class action lawsuits under ADA Title III and the Unruh Civil Rights Act, risking demands for injunctive relief to remediate website accessibility barriers and statutory damages for each offense against disabled individuals.