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Barstool Sports ADA Compliance Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Why: The plaintiff maintains that Barstool Sports’ website is incompatible with screen-reading software, which denies blind or visually-impaired people equal access to the website.
- Who: A New York resident is suing Barstool Sports.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in New York federal court.
A new class action lawsuit claims that Barstool Sports’ website, store.barstoolsports.com, is noncompliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The website allegedly denies blind or visually impaired people from having full access by being incompatible with screen-reading software.
The class action lawsuit was filed by Carmen Tavarez-Vargas, who attempted to make a purchase on the Barstool Sports website in December 2021. However, Tavarez-Vargas says her screen reader could neither read the selected color of a product nor choose the desired size of a product. This prevented her from “making an informed choice” regarding the offered products.
Tavarez-Vargas seeks to represent a nationwide class and a City of New York subclass of all visually impaired or legally blind individuals who have attempted to access Barstool Sports’ website and have been denied equal access to the goods and services offered on the website during the past three years.
Barstool’s Inaccessibility Leads to ‘Substantial Harm,’ Complaint Says
Tavarez-Vargas uses the screen-reading software NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA), which is a popular program for blind and visually impaired users of Microsoft Windows devices, according to the complaint.
NVDA, like other similar software programs, interacts with websites to read aloud website text and descriptions of the website. However, the website must be designed to be read by such software by rendering the website’s content into text.
Barstool Sports’ merchandise website allegedly fails to comply with this design as detailed by international internet accessibility guidelines. Failing to provide equal access between sighted readers and visually impared people also violates the ADA and a similar New York law.
Barstool Sports has failed to take any “prompt and equitable steps to remedy its discriminatory conduct,” even while perpetuating “substantial harm and discrimination to blind and visually-impaired consumers,” the complaint says.
Barstool Sports has “invested substantial sums in developing and maintaining its website” and thus has “generated significant revenue” from its website, according to the class action. The complaint argues that the revenue Barstool Sports has generated from its website far exceeds the typical cost of creating an accessible website.
Tavarez-Vargas seeks actual damages, punitive damages and statutory money damages, including pre- and post-judgment interest; an injunction requiring Barstool Sports to create an ADA-compliant website; and attorneys’ fees and costs.
Have you experienced accessibility issues on Barstool Sports’ website? Tell us about it in the comments section below!
The plaintiff is represented by Edward Y. Kroub, Jarrett S. Charo and William J. Downes of Mizrahi Kroub LLP.
The Barstool Sports ADA Compliance Class Action Lawsuit is Tavarez-Vargas v. Barstool Sports Inc., Case No. 1:21-cv-10978, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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