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On Tuesday, a proposed class action lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York against AMC Entertainment Inc. alleging the popular movie theater chain’s website of being inaccessible to patrons who are blind, thus violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Cristhian Diaz, the plaintiff who filed the lawsuit, is blind and claims he attempted to purchase movie tickets via the AMC website on a number of occasions. He says that certain parts of the website can only be accessed using a computer mouse and the site is incompatible with the screen-reading software he and many individuals with visual impairments use.
Due to these alleged limitations, Diaz says he has been unable to access the goods and services that AMC provides to the general public. Diaz also claims that in the current age of e-commerce, this denial of access has prohibited him and other users facing visual impairments from taking advantage of the same things others can easily access.
“Amctheaters.com contains thousands of access barriers that make it difficult, if not impossible, for blind customers to use the website. In fact, the access barriers make it impossible for blind users to even complete a transaction on the website,” the complaint stated. “AMC thus excludes the blind from the full and equal participation in the growing Internet economy that is increasingly a fundamental part of the common marketplace and daily living.”
According to Diaz, accessible websites use features that are friendly to individuals with sight disabilities such as alternative text, descriptive links, accessible forms and resizable texts. In contrast, Diaz says AMC’s website runs on an “exclusively visual interface” consisting of pop-up windows and scripts run by the page that is unrecognizable by accessibility software.
“AMC’s sighted customers can independently browse, select and buy products online without the assistance of others,” Diaz states. “However, blind people must rely on sighted companions or strangers to assist them in accessing and buying tickets on Amctheaters.com.”
Movie ticket purchases are not the only inaccessible areas of the website, but people with visual impairments are also unable to access price discounts, employment opportunities and other programs that AMC offers, according to the lawsuit. Diaz maintains that for AMC to make the website accessible to patrons who are blind, the changes required would be relatively easy to implement and is something other companies have been able to do in the past.
“There are well-established guidelines for making websites accessible to blind people. These guidelines have been in place for at least several years and have been followed successfully by other large business entities in making their websites accessible,” the complaint read. “Incorporating the basic components to make their website accessible would neither fundamentally alter the nature of defendant’s business nor result in an undue burden to defendant.”
Diaz is seeking to represent a nationwide Class as well as a subclass of individuals who are legally blind who have tried to access AMC’s website but been unable to do so. He has brought forth allegations of violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as violations of New York state laws and New York City laws. The plaintiff is seeking an injunction that will require AMC to make its website accessible to consumers who are visually impaired, a declaration that AMC has engaged in discrimination against individuals with disabilities and compensatory damages.
Similar class action lawsuits have been filed over alleged ADA violations recently. Another proposed class action lawsuit was filed against AMC claimed that the movie theater provides patrons who are blind with faulty audio headsets. The suit claimed this deprives moviegoers with visual disabilities from listening to the narrative of the visual events provided by movie studios that is synchronized with the film that explains what is occurring on screen when there is no dialogue.
The other proposed class action lawsuit was filed against Outback Steakhouse that alleged claims similar to Diaz’s, namely that the company’s website is inaccessible to users who are blind or visually impaired.
Diaz is represented by C.K. Lee and Anne Seelig of Lee Litigation Group PLLC.
The AMC Website ADA Class Action Lawsuit is Diaz v. AMC Entertainment Inc., Case No 1:16-cv-02546, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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11 thoughts onAMC Class Action Alleges Movie Theater Website Violates ADA
Do we have to be blind to get in on this lawsuit?
Because i cant sign into moviepass at all, despite the fact they are already charging my card. Which means i am now paying 10$ a month for a plastic car which does nothing. Customer support for the issue is non-existent(literally, i haven’t seen a single person saying customer support go back to them EVER), and i cant cancel the membership because its done through customer support. Ive filed a new class action law suit through this sight against moviepass, ill let everyone know if it gets opened up.
Now and then AMC shows foreign films from China or India and 99.9 % of the time it is in their native language with English Subtitles.
Is AMC responsible for providing their sight impaired guest with dubbed English content of the foreign film.
What comes next, deaf people suing movie studios for not having a sign language subtitle?
Many chains already have accommodation for that sir. These things have to be addressed on a case by case basis. If you dont deal with these issues every day, then you dont know what this particular population goes through. Count your blessings that you are so blessed.
The movie studios provide the a special audio descriptive track that describes the scenes to the blind when special hardware that is supposed to be provided by the theater is used so that blind people are able to have equal access to the movies. Also blind people have the same right to purchase products or services without discrimination. Also there is another lawsuit due to AMC providing faulty descriptive devices and from what I read AMC theaters was worned and given every opportunity to fix the broken systems.
AMC theaters like any other company that is open to the public should not be able to get away with violating anti-discrimination laws even if some think that blind people should not be able tongo to the movies.
Blind people have it tough. Having said that, it is absurd for blind people to feel they have the right to do everything sighted people can do. Should they be able to sue the airlines for not hiring blind pilots ? Should they be able to sue the car manufacturers for not building cars that blind people can drive ? This is just one more example of political correctness run amuk, and I am sick of it.
Your comment comes from a viewpoint of ignorance about what most blind people really want. With todays technology, there is no reason a website could not be accessible to the blind with little outlay on the companys part, especially such a large corporation as the one named in this action. As in every population group, there are people looking to make a buck from someone through a frivolous lawsuit but this case seems reasonable to me, knowing what I know about technology and about low vision persons.
How does a blind person watch a movie?
Several theater chains have begun offering descriptive video service which actually uses voice over to describe many parts of the movie (in between dialogue) and it is actually done quite well and doesnt take away from the viewing experience. I actually enjoy using it and I am sited. The problem is the theaters I have visited with a low vision guest have had employees who were not trained on the equipment (a headset that the vision impaired person wears) and the headset either didnt work at all or wasnt tuned properly to the right movie that was being watched. Its pretty annoying and seems to happen every time we go. We have to go way before the movie starts and we still end up missing parts of the movie getting the equipment working or tuned to the correct movie. (it its a multiple screen theater) Its a great service but so far, no theater we have visited knows how to use it consistently.
Sharon garnes. I would like information on amc
Sharon garnes