I am sharing a split screen with a complaint filed by the Manning Law Firm a few years ago, signed by lawyer Joseph Manning. The accessibility issues named in this complaint are still relevant and commonly seen by active plaintiffs law firms. The Manning Law Firm is based in California, and I will list the accessibility issues mentioned in the complaint:
- The homepage has graphics, links, and buttons that lack labeling or have incorrect labeling or lack alternative text.
- Multiple buttons and links are unlabeled or mislabeled.
- Insufficient navigational headings on multiple pages required substantial additional time for the plaintiff to access information.
- Menu links and descriptions were inaccessible to screen reader technology, preventing the plaintiff from browsing menu items.
- An inaccessible checkout system prevented the plaintiff from making a purchase.
While some of these accessibility issues are vague, the more specific ones are mentioned at the beginning of the list. The Manning Law Firm is fairly active in this space, and the accessibility issues named are seen over and over again by active plaintiffs law firms. By remediating the most commonly claimed accessibility issues, the risk of receiving a demand letter or having a complaint filed against you will significantly decrease.
I created the ADA Compliance Course to help prioritize the issues that are most commonly claimed in litigation, and to provide instructions on how to find and fix them. While it won’t cover every accessibility issue under the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, it is the most effective way to decrease the risk of litigation. Once the accessibility measures to eliminate these commonly claimed issues are incorporated, you can work towards becoming fully WCAG Conformant. The lower the number of issues and the instances of those issues, the lower the risk of litigation.
