Plaintiff
- Name: Brittney Mejico
- Filing date: March 11, 2021
- State of filing: California
Defendant
- Name: Buff Inc
- Website: www.buffusa.com
- Industry: Apparel
- Summary: Buff is a multifunctional headwear and neckwear band for men, women, kids, and pets.
Case Summary
On March 11, 2021, Brittney Mejico filed a Complaint in California State court against Buff Inc. Plaintiff Brittney Mejico alleges that www.buffusa.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standard(s).
Case Details
Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:
- Spacer image missing alternative text which presents a problem because a layout spacer image does not have an alt attribute. Spacer images are used to maintain layout. They do not convey content and should be given null/empty alternative text (alt="") so they are not presented to users and are
ignored by screen readers; - Empty or missing form labels which presents a problem because, if a form control does not have a properly associated text label, the function or purpose of that form control may not be presented to screen reader users. Form labels provide visible descriptions and larger clickable targets for form controls;
- Document language missing, which presents a problem because the language of the document is not identified. Identifying the language of the page allows
screen readers to read the content in the appropriate language. It also facilitates automatic translation
of content; - Empty headings, which present a problem because a heading contains no content. Keyboard and screen reader users often navigate by heading elements. An empty heading will present
no information and may introduce confusion; - Empty buttons, which present a problem because a
button is empty or has no value text. When navigating to a button, descriptive text must be presented to screen reader users to indicate the function of the button; - 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; and
- Redundant Links where adjacent links go to the same URL address which results in additional navigation and repetition for keyboard and screen reader users
Plaintiff asserts the following cause(s) of action in its Complaint:
Violations of the Unruh Civil Rights Act, California Civil Code § 51 et seq.
Plaintiff seeks the following relief by way of its Complaint:
- For a judgment that Defendant violated Plaintiff's rights under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, California Civil Code § 51 et seq.
- For a preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take the steps necessary to make the Websites readily accessible to and usable by visually-impaired individuals, but Plaintiff hereby expressly limit the injunctive relief to require the Defendant expend no more than $20,000 as the cost of injunctive relief;
- An award of statutory minimum damages of $4,000 per violation pursuant to section 52(a) of the California Civil Code, however, Plaintiff expressly limit the total amount of recovery, including statutory damages, attorneys' fees and costs, and cost of injunctive relief not to exceed $74,999;
- For attorneys’ fees and expenses pursuant to all applicable laws including, without limitation, California Civil Code § 52(a); however, Plaintiff expressly limits the total amount of recovery, including statutory damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and cost of injunctive relief not t exceed $74,999;
- For pre-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law;
- For costs of suit; and
- For such other and further relief as the Court Deems just and proper.
