ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: online exotic bird retailer
Plaintiff's Firm: RODERICK V. HANNAH, ESQ., P.A.
Case Summary
Nelson Fernandez, represented by Roderick V. Hannah, Esq., P.A. and LAW OFFICE OF PELAYO DURAN, P.A., has filed an ADA Title III website accessibility lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on May 13, 2022. The complaint targets an online exotic bird retailer for alleged discrimination against visually impaired individuals using its e-commerce website.
The complaint details several accessibility barriers, including mislabeled home page/company logo buttons, phone numbers lacking proper descriptions, and inaccessible home, account, and shopping cart icons. Furthermore, product prices, submenus, and filer/sort buttons were reportedly inaccessible via keyboard navigation. Issues extended to social media buttons not integrating with screen readers, unlabeled "sold out" notifications, and inaccessible sub-total, shipping, total, product name, quantity, and removal options within the shopping cart. Checkout elements like item name, quantity, price, total, and certain text were also inaccessible, as were contact details in the website footer, preventing full use by blind and visually disabled users. The website is also alleged to not meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards or higher.
This action highlights the ongoing legal risks for online businesses that fail to ensure their digital platforms are fully accessible to individuals with disabilities. Similar e-commerce websites must proactively audit and remediate accessibility issues to avoid litigation, ensure compliance with ADA Title III, and provide equal access to all potential customers, or face continuous harm and requests for injunctive relief and attorney's fees.
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Case Q&A
What specific WCAG violations is this online exotic bird retailer accused of?
The website is accused of having mislabeled buttons and icons (home, company logo, shopping cart), inaccessible product prices, submenus, and filer/sort options for keyboard navigation. Additionally, social media buttons did not integrate with screen readers, "sold out" notifications were unlabeled, and various shopping cart and checkout elements (sub-total, shipping, product details) were inaccessible. The site also lacked an accessibility policy and did not meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards.
Who filed this lawsuit, and which law firm?
The lawsuit was filed by Nelson Fernandez, represented by the law firms Roderick V. Hannah, Es
, P.
and LAW OFFICE OF PELAYO DURAN, P.
What legal risk does this create?
This case underscores the legal imperative for online businesses to ensure their websites are accessible to individuals with disabilities. Failure to provide equal access under ADA Title III can lead to lawsuits seeking injunctive relief, attorney's fees, and court orders for comprehensive website remediation to comply with accessibility standards like WCAG.