ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: an online clothing and homeware retailer
Plaintiff's Firm: J. COURTNEY CUNNINGHAM, PLLC
Case Summary
Plaintiff Windy Lucius filed a federal lawsuit against an online clothing and homeware retailer in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, on May 7, 2020. The complaint, brought by J. COURTNEY CUNNINGHAM, PLLC, alleges violations of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act due to an inaccessible mobile application.
The lawsuit details several WCAG violations, including a failure to provide text alternatives for non-text content (WCAG 1.1.1), issues with information and relationships conveyed through presentation (WCAG 1.3.1) preventing users from hearing overall product ratings, improper focus order (WCAG 2.4.3) for elements like gift options, lack of clear error identification (WCAG 3.3.1), inaccessible values for product selectors like color and size (WCAG 4.1.2), incorrect role announcement for input fields such as quantity dropdowns (WCAG 1.3.5), absence of error suggestions (WCAG 3.3.3), and failure to announce status messages (WCAG 4.1.3) to screen reader users.
This action highlights significant legal risks for businesses operating e-commerce mobile applications that do not fully integrate with assistive technologies like screen readers, potentially denying visually impaired consumers equal access to goods and services under the ADA Title III.
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Case Q&A
What specific WCAG violations is this online clothing and homeware retailer accused of?
The retailer is accused of WCAG 1.1.1 (Non-Text Content - missing text alternatives for images), WCAG 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships - product ratings not announced), WCAG 2.4.3 (Focus Order - illogical navigation), WCAG 3.3.1 (Error Identification - errors not alerted to users), WCAG 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value - inaccessible values for selectors), WCAG 1.3.5 (Identify Input Purpose - incorrect role for quantity dropdown), WCAG 3.3.3 (Error Suggestion - suggestions not announced), and WCAG 4.1.3 (Status Messages - status messages not communicated).
Who filed this lawsuit, and which law firm?
Windy Lucius filed this lawsuit, represented by J. COURTNEY CUNNINGHAM, PLLC.
What legal risk does this create?
This case demonstrates the legal risk for businesses with e-commerce apps that are not fully accessible to visually impaired users, facing potential ADA Title III lawsuits for failing to provide equal access to their digital services.