ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: Gourmet Candy Retailer

Plaintiff Thuy Thanh Alonzo, represented by WILSHIRE LAW FIRM, filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on September 30, 2021, against a gourmet candy retailer. The complaint alleges that the defendant operates an e-commerce website that is inaccessible to visually-impaired individuals using screen-reading software, thereby violating their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act.

The complaint details numerous WCAG 2.1 violations, including the lack of alternative text for non-text elements and linked images, missing title frames for navigation, absence of equivalent text when using scripts, and improper functionality of forms. Other alleged barriers include content structure not conveyed visually, text that cannot be resized without functionality loss, enforced time limits without user control, missing web page titles, indeterminable link purposes, keyboard operability issues with a discernible focus indicator, undefined default human language, context changes on focus, lack of labels or instructions for user input, improperly nested markup elements with duplicate attributes, inaccessible Portable Document Format (PDFs), and unprogrammatically determined user interface elements.

This action highlights the significant legal exposure for e-commerce businesses that fail to ensure their websites are fully accessible to disabled users. Companies operating online platforms must proactively adhere to digital accessibility standards, such as WCAG 2.1, to mitigate the risk of class action litigation under ADA Title III and similar state laws, emphasizing the critical importance of inclusive digital design and user experience.