Plaintiff
- Name: Robert Jahoda
- Filing date: January 19, 2021
- State of filing: Pennsylvania
Defendant
- Name: Dave Ribeiro, LLC
- Website: www.thecoldestwater.com
- Industry: Leisure Products
- Summary: Coldest is a brand of water bottles, ice packs, coolers, coffee products, and related accessories for sale at retail and via their website.
Case Summary
On January 19, 2021, Robert Jahoda filed a Complaint in Pennsylvania Federal court against Dave Ribeiro, LLC. Plaintiff Robert Jahoda alleges that www.thecoldestwater.com is not accessible.
Case Details
Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:
- Links and buttons on the Website do not describe their purpose. As a result, blind users cannot determine whether they want to follow a particular link or select a particular button, making navigation an exercise of trial and error. For example, shoppers who perceive content visually will likely recognize that there are colored circles that must be selected for color choice of your product. Unfortunately, these colors are not described nor are they able to be selected, leaving the Plaintiff unable to choose a color for his bottle and complete the purchase.
- The Website provides a five-star rating for many products that Defendant sells. Shoppers who perceive content visually can see whether a particular product has one, two, three, four, or five stars, and base their purchasing decisions on this information. Unfortunately, Defendant’s accessibility policies, if any, fail to provide any alternative text for this important rating information. When the user hovers over the review rating, it will read the number of reviews only, not the star rating. As a result, Plaintiff must make his purchasing decisions without the benefit of knowing whether the products he’s researching are well received by other shoppers, information which is otherwise available to shoppers who do not rely on screen reader auxiliary aids to shop online.
- Buttons on the Website do not describe their purpose. As a result, blind users cannot determine whether they want to follow a particular link, making navigation an exercise of trial and error. For example, shoppers who perceive content visually will likely recognize the Website’s My Account and Home icon, and understand that by clicking it, Defendant will redirect them to their account page or the home page. Unfortunately, this icon is not labeled with sufficiently descriptive alternative text. As a result, when Plaintiff hovers over it, his screen reader reads “link” only. Because this text is meaningless without additional context, Plaintiff is less likely to locate their account as easily as a sighter user.
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 is 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 it to remain fully in compliance with the law—the specific injunctive relief requested by Plaintiff is described more fully in paragraph 10 above.
- Payment of actual, statutory, and other 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 People Against Police Violence v. City of Pittsburgh, 520 F.3d 226, 235 (3d Cir. 2008) (“This Court, like other Courts of Appeals, allows fees to be awarded for monitoring and enforcing Court orders and judgments.”); see also Gniewkowski v. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc., Case No. 2:16-cv01898-AJS (W.D. Pa. Jan. 11, 2018) (ECF 191); see also Access Now, Inc. v. Lax World, LLC, No. 1:17-cv-10976-DJC (D. Mass. Apr. 17, 2018) (ECF 11)
- Whatever other relief the Court deems just, equitable and appropriate
- An Order retaining jurisdiction over this case until Defendant have complied with the Court’s Orders
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