Marriott Class Action Claims Website Not Accessible to Blind, Visually Impaired

Marriott Website Accessibility Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Lamar Brown filed a class action lawsuit against Marriott International, Inc. 
• Why: Brown claims Marriott has failed to design its website in a way that would make it fully accessible for blind and visually impaired consumers. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in New York federal court. 

Marriott International fails to make its website fully accessible and independently usable for individuals who are blind and visually impaired, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Lamar Brown, a legally blind person, claims Marriott’s website contains “thousands of access barriers” for visually impaired consumers. 

Brown says access barriers on Marriott’s website make it “impossible” for blind and visually impaired individuals to even complete a transaction. 

This is an especially big problem, Brown argues, given that Internet purchases are “becoming an increasingly prominent part of everyday life.” 

“Marriott International excludes the blind and visually impaired from the full and equal participation in the growing Internet economy that is increasingly a fundamental part of the common marketplace and daily living,” the Marriott class action states.  

Marriott Class Action Claims Website Designed With an ‘Exclusively Visual Interface’

Brown argues that blind individuals have an “even greater need” than the sighted to be able to make purchases online given the daily mobility challenges they face. 

He also claims Marriott’s website is not accessible due to the fact it is designed with an “exclusively visual interface.” Marriott’s website’s exclusively visual interface forces blind individuals to “rely on sighted companions to assist them in accessing and purchasing on westinstore.com,” the Marriott class action states. 

Brown claims Marriott is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and New York City Human Rights Law. He wants to represent a nationwide class and New York subclass of legally blind individuals who have been denied access to Marriott’ website westinstore.com. 

Plaintiff is demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory relief along with compensatory damages for himself and all class members. 

A separate class action lawsuit filed against Marriott was dismissed last October after a judge ruled shareholder claims that executive negligence had led to a massive data breach and hurt the company’s stock price were filed too late. 

Have you been denied equal access to Marriott’s website? Let us know in the comments! 

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