ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: an Online Retail Pharmacy Chain
Plaintiff's Firm: RODERICK V. HANNAH, ESQ., P.A., LAW OFFICE OF PELAYO DURAN, P.A.
Case Summary
Plaintiff PEDRO VERGARA, who is visually disabled and uses screen reader software, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court Southern District of Florida on June 17, 2022, against an online retail pharmacy chain. The complaint alleges that the defendant's website contains numerous access barriers that prevent visually impaired individuals from fully and equally accessing its goods, services, privileges, and advantages.
The lawsuit specifically details several Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) violations, including inaccessible text and cursor skipping on the Covid-19 vaccine information page, unlabeled item images, names, and prices for screen readers, and inaccessible shopping cart elements like item price, estimated tax, and total. Furthermore, the website allegedly lacks prompting information for online forms, has an inaccessible "accessibility" statement, and does not meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA or higher versions of web accessibility, thus violating Title III of the ADA. The complaint also includes a claim for trespass due to the unauthorized installation of information tracking and gathering software on the plaintiff's computer.
This case highlights the legal risks for similar online retail pharmacy chains and public accommodations whose websites are not designed to be fully accessible to individuals with visual disabilities. Non-compliance with ADA Title III and WCAG standards can lead to costly litigation, including demands for injunctive relief to remediate websites, awards of attorney's fees, costs, and potential compensatory damages for issues like trespass to chattel.
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Case Q&A
What specific WCAG violations is this online retail pharmacy chain accused of?
The online retail pharmacy chain is accused of having inaccessible text and cursor skipping, unlabeled item images, names, and prices for screen readers, inaccessible shopping cart elements, and a lack of prompting information for online forms. The site's "accessibility" statement is also inaccessible, and it fails to meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards.
Who filed this lawsuit, and which law firm?
PEDRO VERGARA filed this lawsuit, represented by the law firms RODERICK V. HANNAH, ES
, P.
and LAW OFFICE OF PELAYO DURAN, P.
What legal risk does this create?
This lawsuit indicates that online retail pharmacy chains and similar public accommodations face significant legal risk, including potential lawsuits for injunctive relief, attorney's fees, and damages, if their websites are not fully accessible to disabled users in compliance with ADA Title III and WCAG standards.