Plaintiff
- Name: Abelardo Martinez, Jr.
- Filing date: January 26, 2021
- State of filing: California
Defendant
- Name: Buzzfeed, Inc.
- Website: www.buzzfeed.com
- Industry: Entertainment
- Summary: Buzzfeed is a journalistic website featuring news, entertainment, and reporting from various fields.
Case Summary
On January 26, 2021, Abelardo Martinez, Jr. filed a Complaint in California State court against Buzzfeed, Inc.. Plaintiff Abelardo Martinez, Jr. alleges that www.buzzfeed.com is not accessible.
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; - Page refreshes or redirects, which presents a problem because the page is set to automatically change location or reference using a <meta> tag. Pages that automatically change location or refresh pose significant usability issues, particularly for screen reader and keyboard users;
- 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 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:
- 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., and 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 App into full compliance with the requirements set forth in the ADA, and its implementing regulations, so that the App is readily accessible to and usable by blind individuals;
- A declaration that Defendant owns, maintains and/or operates its App in a manner which 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., and N.Y.C. Administrative Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws of New York;
- An order directing Defendants to continually update and maintain its App to ensure that it remains fully accessible to and usable by the visually-impaired;
- Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by proof, including all applicable statutory damages and fines, to Plaintiff for violations of their civil rights under New York State Human Rights Law and City Law;
- Plaintiff’s reasonable attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs of suit as provided by state and federal law;
- For pre- and post-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law; and
- For such other and further relief which this court deems just and proper.