ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: Gourmet Chocolate Retailer

Nataly Morales, represented by WILSHIRE LAW FIRM, has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on October 25, 2021, against an online gourmet chocolate and sweets retailer. The complaint alleges that the defendant's website fails to provide full and equal access to visually impaired individuals, violating Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act.

The lawsuit details numerous specific accessibility barriers encountered by Plaintiff and proposed Class Members. These include a lack of alternative text for non-text elements and linked images, empty links without descriptive text, redundant links, and forms lacking the same information and functionality for sighted persons. Further allegations cite issues with keyboard operable user interfaces that lack discernible focus indicators, web pages without descriptive titles, link purposes not determinable from text or context, and problems with text resizing. The complaint also highlights content where meaning and structure are not conveyed beyond visual presentation, content with enforced time limits without user control, automatic context changes, missing labels for user input, and inaccessible Portable Document Format (PDFs).

This legal action underscores the ongoing risk for businesses operating e-commerce websites if their digital platforms do not conform to established accessibility guidelines such as WCAG 2.1. Companies in the retail sector, especially those with online presence integrated with physical locations, must ensure their websites are fully accessible to individuals with disabilities to avoid similar ADA and state-level civil rights litigation.