Plaintiff
- Name: Luis Licea
- Filing date: March 12, 2021
- State of filing: California
Defendant
- Name: The Economist
- Website: www.economist.com
- Industry: Media
- Summary: The Economist is a digital and print media company publishing coverage of world news, politics, business, finance, and other topics.
Case Summary
On March 12, 2021, Luis Licea filed a Complaint in California State court against The Economist. Plaintiff Luis Licea alleges that www.economist.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standard(s).
Case Details
Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:
- Missing alternative text which presents a problem because an image without alternative text results in an empty link. Alternative Text is invisible code embedded beneath a graphical image on a website. Web accessibility requires that Alternative Text be coded with each picture so that a screen reader can speak the Alternative Text where a sighted user sees pictures. Alternative Text does not change the
visual presentation, but instead generates a text box that will pop-up when the mouse moves over the
picture. The lack of Alternative Text on these graphics prevents screen readers from accurately vocalizing a description of the graphics; - 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 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 which present a problem because a link contains no text. If a link contains no text, the function or purpose of the link will not be presented to the user. This can introduce confusion for keyboard and screen reader users;
- Broken ARIA references, which presents a problem because an aria-labelled by or aria-described by reference exists, but the target for the reference does not exist. ARIA labels and descriptions will not be presented if the element referenced does not exist in the page; 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 Website 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
- For costs of suit
- For such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.
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