Gap, Lane Bryant class actions allege websites inaccessible to visually impaired users

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Gap, Lane Bryant website accessibility class action lawsuits overview: 

• Who: Bryan Velazquez filed separate class action lawsuits against Gap, Inc. and Lane Bryant Brands Opco, LLC. 
• Why: Velazquez claims Gap and Lane Bryant are both violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by not making their websites fully accessible and independently usable for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. 
• Where: The class action lawsuits were filed in New York federal court. 

Gap and Lane Bryant have failed to make their websites fully accessible and independently usable for individuals who are blind or visually impaired, a pair of new class action lawsuits separately allege.

Plaintiff Bryan Velazquez, who is legally blind, claims in separate complaints against Gap and Lane Bryant that their websites are not compatible with screen-reading software used by himself and other visually impaired individuals to access the internet. 

Velazquez argues that Gap and Lane Bryant are violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by allegedly not having websites which are “equally accessible to blind and visually impaired consumers.” 

“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 (ADA),” states the Gap class action and Lane Bryant class action. 

For each complaint, Velazquez wants to represent a nationwide Class and New York subclass of legally blind individuals who have attempted to access Gap or Lane Bryant’s website and been “denied access to the equal enjoyment of goods and services offered.” 

Gap and Lane Bryant accused of having access barriers in place for screen-reading software used by blind, visually impaired

Velazquez claims Gap and Lane Bryant’s websites have access barriers in place which makes them incompatible with screen-reading software used by himself and other legally blind individuals to access the internet.

“Screen-reading software is currently the only method a blind or visually impaired person may use to independently access the internet,” states the Gap class action and Lane Bryant class action. 

The screen-reading software access barriers Velazquez has encountered include broken links, duplicate title elements, missing label elements and title attributes, and a lack of alt text for graphical imagery, according to the Gap class action and Lane Bryant class action. 

“These access barriers effectively denied Plaintiff the ability to use and enjoy Defendant’s website the same way sighted individuals do,” state the Gap class action and Lane Bryant class action. 

Velazquez claims Gap and Lane Bryant are, in addition to allegedly violating the ADA, both guilty of violating New York City Human Rights Law. 

Plaintiff is demanding a jury trial for both complaints and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief along with a reward of compensatory, statutory, and punitive damages for himself and all Class Members.  

A similar class action lawsuit was filed against Klondike maker Unilever earlier this month by a consumer arguing the company failed to make the website for the ice cream bar fully accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. 

Last month, meanwhile, a legally blind consumer filed a similar complaint against Brookstone which argued that the company failed to make its website accessible for individuals who use screen-reading software to access the internet. 

Have you been denied equal access to a company’s website on account of a disability? Let us know in the comments! 

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

The Gap, Lane Bryant website accessibility class action lawsuits are Velazquez v. The Gap, Inc., Case No. 1:22-cv-06925 and Velazquez v. Lane Bryant Brands Opco, LLC, Case No. 1:22-cv-06918, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

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