UPS class action alleges website not accessible to blind, visually impaired customers

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UPS website class action overview: 

• Who: A blind New York man is suing UPS.
• Why: The plaintiff says the UPS website is not accessible to legally blind people using a screen reader.
• Where: The UPS website class action was filed in a New York federal court. 

UPS does not make its website accessible to blind and visually impaired people using a screen reader, in violation of the law, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiff Warren Zinnamon filed the class action lawsuit against United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) Oct. 24 in a New York federal court, alleging violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

Zinnamon is a visually impaired and legally blind person who requires screen-reading software to read websites using his computer. 

He alleges UPS has failed to design, construct, maintain and operate its website, ups.com, to be fully accessible to and independently usable by him and other blind and visually-impaired people.

“Defendant’s denial of full and equal access to its website, and therefore denial of its goods and services offered thereby, is a violation of Plaintiff’s rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act,” the lawsuit alleges.

UPS website contains multiple access barriers, lawsuit alleges

Zinnamon says he visited the UPS website on multiple occasions to get more information about the mail company’s services. 

Despite his efforts, he says he was denied an experience similar to that of a sighted individual due to the website’s lack of a variety of features and accommodations, which “effectively barred him from being able to determine what specific products and services were available for his review.”

The access barriers included lack of alt text, elements that were not keyboard focusable and therefore inaccessible to blind users, and lack of title attributes, which causes the screen reader to fail to communicate the purpose of the page.

It also contained a host of broken links, he says, which paralyzes a screen reader.

He’s looking to represent all legally blind people in the United States who tried to access the UPS website. He is also looking to represent a New York subclass.

Zinnamon is seeking certification of the class action, an injection forcing UPS to make its website accessible to the blind, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial.

Meanwhile, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) was hit with a class action lawsuit in October alleging it failed to make its website fully accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired.

What do you think of the allegations in this UPS class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments!

The plaintiff is represented by Mark Rozenberg of Stein Saks PLLC.

The UPS class action lawsuit is Warren Zinnamon v. United Parcel Service Inc., Case No. 1:22-cv-09124-VSB, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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