Plaintiff
- Name: Jared Charlap
- Filing date: December 1, 2020
- State of filing: Pennsylvania
Defendant
- Name: Offbeat Ventures, LLC
- Website: www.vinylmeplease.com/pages/store-home
- Industry: Entertainment
- Summary: Offbeat Ventures, LLC owns and operates the website, vinylmeplease.com, selling vinyl LPs and related merchandise.
Case Summary
On December 1, 2020, Jared Charlap filed a Complaint in Pennsylvania Federal court against Offbeat Ventures, LLC. Plaintiff Jared Charlap alleges that www.vinylmeplease.com/pages/store-home is not accessible.
Case Details
Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:
- Defendant’s Website is so constructed that only one of the menu items is accessible by using the tab key. The top banner contains actionable items that are required to be accessible by the tab key. Only the first menu item, “All” is announced with the tab key, after that focus skips to the bottom of the page and mentions “blues” instead of the other menu items. This
leaves the screen reader user unable to access the other menu items. - The Website contains a feature for the user to join the club through the use of a pop-up, however, this pop-up contains unlabeled options. The “Join the Club” pop-up has four
radio buttons from which a user can choose. Each radio button shows a different subscription term, but these options are not announced. For example, screen reader users do not hear “12 month, Best Value, $399 billed annually.” Instead, they hear “radio button checked six of six.” This leaves the
user confused as to the purpose of the link, and even more confused as there are only four options available to a visual user. - Defendant’s Website contains a consent checkbox that is not announced at the end of the form to create an account. All actionable items such as buttons, fields, and checkboxes are required to be in the tab order. The form to create an account is accessible via the tab key with the exception of the consent checkbox. The consent checkbox is already checked, and
it is not announced to screen reader users, so they aren’t aware that they have just consented to an email marketing campaign.
Plaintiff asserts the following cause(s) of action in its Complaint:
Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq.
Plaintiff seeks the following relief by way of its Complaint:
- A Declaratory Judgment that at the commencement of this action Defendant was in violation of the specific requirements of Title III of the ADA described above, and the relevant implementing regulations of the ADA, in that Defendant took no action that was reasonably calculated to ensure that its website was fully accessible to, and independently usable by, individuals with visual disabilities
- A permanent injunction pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 12188(a)(2) and 28 CFR § 36.504(a) which directs Defendant to take all steps necessary to bring its website into full compliance with the requirements set forth in the ADA, and its implementing regulations, so that its website is fully accessible to, and independently usable by, blind individuals, and which further directs that the Court shall retain jurisdiction for a period to be determined to ensure that Defendant has adopted and is following an institutional policy that will in fact cause them to remain fully in compliance with the law—the specific injunctive relief requested by Plaintiffs is described more fully in paragraph 11 above.
- Payment of actual, statutory, and punitive damages, as the Court deems proper
- Payment of costs of suit
- Payment of reasonable attorneys’ fees, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 12205 and 28 CFR § 36.505, including costs of monitoring Defendant’s compliance with the judgment (see Gniewkowski v. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc., Case No. 2:16-cv-01898-AJS (W.D. Pa. Jan. 11, 2018) (ECF 191) (“Plaintiffs, as the prevailing party, may file a fee petition before the Court surrenders jurisdiction. Pursuant to Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens’ Council for Clean Air, 478 U.S. 546, 559 (1986), supplemented, 483 U.S. 711 (1987), the fee petition may include costs to monitor Defendant’s compliance with the permanent injunction.”); see also Access Now, Inc. v. Lax World, LLC, No. 1:17-cv-10976-DJC (D. Mass. Apr. 17, 2018) (ECF 11) (same)
- The provision of whatever other relief the Court deems just, equitable and appropriate
- An Order retaining jurisdiction over this case until Defendant has complied with the Court’s Orders.
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