ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit: an online jewelry retailer

Plaintiff ANDREE CAMPBELL, represented by ALEKSANDRA KRAVETS, ESQ. P.A., has filed an ADA Title III website accessibility lawsuit against an online jewelry retailer in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, on March 14, 2025. The plaintiff, who is blind and uses screen reader software, alleges that the defendant's e-commerce website contains numerous access barriers that prevent visually disabled individuals from fully and equally accessing its content and services, thereby violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The complaint details several critical WCAG violations, including similar alternative text for different product images, an improperly defined heading hierarchy with missing heading levels, interactive elements not focusable by keyboard, inaccessible sub-menu elements, form expirations without control mechanisms, a lack of focus shift to the mini cart dialog upon adding products, repeated tabbing through identical elements, issues with keyboard focus after page reloads, ambiguous form field labels, an absence of value announcement after adding items to the cart, and missing status updates for both search suggestions and search results. These barriers reportedly caused frustration and prevented the plaintiff from completing a purchase.

This legal action underscores the significant risk for all online businesses, particularly those operating with physical stores, that fail to ensure their digital platforms comply with ADA Title III and WCAG 2.2 Level AA guidelines or higher. The lawsuit highlights that websites serving as extensions of public accommodations must be fully accessible, and non-compliance can lead to litigation, substantial legal costs, and denial of full participation in goods, services, and privileges for individuals with disabilities.