Petersen v. Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc

Summary

On December 17, 2020, Aishia Petersen filed a Complaint in Florida Federal court against Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc.. Plaintiff Aishia Petersen alleges that www.ashleyfurniture.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1 accessibility standard(s).

About the defendant

Ashley Furniture manufactures and sells residential home furnishings and decor.

What the complaint says

The problems the plaintiff describes with the website.

• mobile app did not fully integrate with Plaintiff’s mobile phone Accessibility screen-reader, nor was there any function within the app to permit access for visually impaired individuals through other means.
• For example, banners and images have no readable label (no audio);
• “Shop by Department” focus on all categories at same time so blind user cannot choose one category (Furniture, Mattress, kitchen, Kids, etc.), when blind user clicks the Shop by Department- Furniture it sends to Bedding, if clicks Kids it sends to Bedding; the banners in the first page “up to 50%off shop now” and “up to 40% off” as well as “mattress starting at $119” all have no description or audio.
• VoiceOver users hear two different prices for all sale products, but they are not labeled so it’s unclear why two different prices are repeated for each item.
• When “Add to Cart” there is no audio in Voiceover, but there is a message on the screen “Item added to Cart” so blind user does not know if the item was added to cart and where is the cart to complete the purchase.
• Some images have no label (audio) and other images have the same label description.

Legal claims

The laws the plaintiff says the defendant broke, called causes of action.

• 42 USC 12182 Americans with Disabilities Act

What the plaintiff asks for

What the plaintiff wants the court to order.

• That the Court issue a Declaratory Judgment that determines that the Defendants' website at the commencement of the subject lawsuit is in violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq.
• That the Court enter an Order directing Defendants to continually update and maintain their computer version of the defendant’s website and Jo-Ann’s website to ensure that it remains fully accessible to and usable by visually impaired individuals;
• That the Court issue an Injunctive relief order directing Defendant to alter their website to make it accessible to, and useable by, individuals with disabilities to the full extent required by Title III of the ADA;
• That the Court enter an Order directing Defendant to evaluate and neutralize their policies and procedures towards persons with disabilities for such reasonable time so as to allow Defendants to undertake and complete corrective procedures;
• That the Court enter an award of attorney’s fees, costs and litigation expenses pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 12205; and Title III of the ADA Section 36.505.