LICEA v. BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC.

    Plaintiff

    • Name: Luis Licea
    • Filing date: June 8, 2020
    • State of filing: California

    Defendant

    • Name: Barnes and Noble Education, Inc.
    • Website: www.bartleby.com
    • Industry: Educational
    • Summary: Bartleby, a subsidiary of Barnes and Noble, is an online provider of textbook solutions, homework assistance, and other educational tools.

    Case Summary

    On June 8, 2020, Luis Licea filed a Complaint in California State court against Barnes and Noble Education, Inc.. Plaintiff Luis Licea alleges that www.bartleby.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standard(s).

    Case Details

    Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:

    • 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;
    • 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;
    • 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; 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:

    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 Website, https://www.bartleby.com/, readily accessible to and usable by visually-impaired individuals; but Plaintiff hereby expressly limits the injunctive relief to require that Defendant expend no more $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 limits 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 to exceed $74,999;
    • For pre-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law;

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