Sanchez v. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc.

Summary

On February 18, 2021, Cristian Sanchez filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Hearst Magazine Media. Plaintiff Cristian Sanchez alleges that shop.cosmopolitan.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1 accessibility standard(s).

About the defendant

Hearst is a media conglomerate, originally founded by George Hearst in 1880 when he purchased the San Francisco Daily Examiner, that now consists of newspapers, television channels, and magazine including, at issue here, Cosmopolitan, a women's fashion and entertainment magazine.

What the complaint says

The problems the plaintiff describes with the website.

• Lack of Alternative Text (“alt-text”), or a text equivalent. Alt-text is an invisible code embedded beneath a graphical image on a website. Web accessibility requires that alt-text be coded with each picture so that screen-reading software can speak the alt-text where a sighted user sees pictures, which includes captcha prompts. Alt- text does not change the visual presentation, but instead a text box shows when the cursor moves over the picture. The lack of alt-text on these graphics prevents screen readers from accurately vocalizing a description of the graphics.
• 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;
• Redundant Links where adjacent links go to the same URL address which results in additional navigation and repetition for keyboard and screen-reader users; and
• Linked Images Missing Alt-text, which causes problems if an image within a link contains no text and that image does not provide alt-text. A screen reader then has no content to present the user as to the function of the link, including information contained in PDFs.
• Site element like some text is spelled rather than read as a whole word. For example, in the main page header, "Bc You're Obsessed with Astro". The text Bc is read as two letters b and c and not as the word "Because". There is no other description and therefore, does not relay clear concise information.
• Chose an item to purchase and the size selector is inaccessible, blocking the user from making a purchase and there was no indication that an error occurred.
• Products have text that describe the item, details of the item and price. This information was not labeled to integrate with screen reader and therefore, overlooks important information that a customer wouldrequire to complete a purchase.

Legal claims

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

• Violations of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq.
• Violations of the NYSHRL
• Violation of the New York State Civil Rights Law
• Violations of the NYCHRL
• Declaratory Relief

What the plaintiff asks for

What the plaintiff wants the court to order.

• A preliminary and permanent injunction to prohibit Defendant from violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., N.Y.C. Administrative Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws of New York;
• A preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take all the steps necessary to make its Website into full compliance with the requirements set forth in the ADA, and its implementing regulations, so that the Website is readily accessible to and usable by blind individuals;
• A declaration that Defendant owns, maintains and/or operates its Website in a manner that discriminates against the blind and which fails to provide access for persons with disabilities as required by Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq.,N.Y.C. Administrative Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws of New York
• An order certifying the Class and Sub-Classes under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) & (b)(2) and/or (b)(3), appointing Plaintiff as Class Representative, and his attorneys as Class Counsel;
• Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by proof, including all applicable statutory and punitive damages and fines, to
• Plaintiff and the proposed class and subclasses for violations of their civil rights under New York State Human Rights Law and City Law;
• Pre- and post-judgment interest;
• An award of costs and expenses of this action together withreasonable attorneys’ and expert fees; and
• Such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper.