Plaintiff
- Name: Cedric Bishop
- Filing date: February 26, 2019
- State of filing: New York
Defendant
- Name: Louis Marine, LTD.
- Website: WWW.LOUISMARINE.COM
- Industry: Hotel, Restaurant and Leisure
- Summary: Louis Marine, LTD is a retail seller of personal boats, watercraft, boating accessories, and boating-related services.
Case Summary
On February 26, 2019, Cedric Bishop filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Louis Marine, LTD.. Plaintiff Cedric Bishop alleges that WWW.LOUISMARINE.COM is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standard(s).
Case Details
Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:
- Lack of Alternative Text (“alt-text”), or a text equivalent. Alt-text is an invisible code embedded beneath a graphical image on a website. Web accessibility requires that alt-text be coded with each picture so that screen-reading software can speak the alt-text where a sighted user sees pictures, which includes captcha prompts. Alt-text does not change the visual presentation, but instead a text box shows when the keyboard scrolls over the picture. The lack of alt-text on these graphics prevents screen readers from accurately vocalizing a description of the graphics. As a result, visually-impaired prospective customers of the Defendant are unable to determine what is on the website, browse, look for: showroom location and hours, products and/or services offered for sale, technical specifications of its products, prices, warranties, awards and other vital information needed by prospective consumers in order to make informed decisions about the Defendant’s products and services.
- Empty Links That Contain No Text causing the function or purpose of the link to not be presented to the user. This can introduce confusion for keyboard and screen-reader users;
- Redundant Links where adjacent links go to the same URL address which results in additional navigation and repetition for keyboard and screen-reader users; and
- Linked Images Missing Alt-text, which causes problems if an image within a link contains no text and that image does not provide alt-text. A screen reader then has no content to present the user as to the function of the link, including information contained in PDFs
Plaintiff asserts the following cause(s) of action in its Complaint:
- Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.,
- New York State Human Rights Law
- New York City Human Rights Law
- Declaratory Relief
Plaintiff seeks the following relief by way of its Complaint:
- A preliminary and permanent injunction to prohibit Defendant from violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107, et seq. and the laws of New York;
- A preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take all the steps necessary to make its Website into full compliance with the requirements set forth in the ADA and its implementing regulations, so that the Website is readily accessible to and usable by blind individuals;
- A declaration that Defendant owns, maintains and/or operates its Website in a manner that discriminates against the blind and which fails to provide access for persons with disabilities as required by Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107, et seq. and the laws of New York
- An order certifying the Class and the State and City Sub-Classes under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) & (b)(2) and/or (b)(3), appointing Plaintiff as Class Representative, and his attorneys as Class Counsel;
- Compensatory and damages in an amount to be determined by proof, including all applicable statutory and punitive damages and fines, to Plaintiff and the proposed class for violations of their civil rights under the New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Law;
- Pre- and post-judgment interest;
- An award of costs and expenses of this action together with reasonable attorneys’ and expert fees; and
- Such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper.