{"id":18883,"date":"2025-07-24T16:04:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T16:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/18883\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T16:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T16:04:10","slug":"high-steaks-affairs-internet-accessibility-lawsuits-on-the-rise-it-and-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/18883\/","title":{"rendered":"High Steaks Affairs: Internet Accessibility Lawsuits On The Rise – IT and Internet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, Hallyu Korean BBQ (“Defendant”) was named
\nas a defendant in an internet accessibility lawsuit in the United
\nStates District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
\nPlaintiff, who is blind, alleged that Defendant violated the Americans with Disabilities Act<\/a>
\n(“ADA”) because its website contained barriers to access
\nfor visually impaired individuals.<\/p>\n

As our readers are aware<\/a>, Title III of the ADA
\nprohibits discrimination on the basis of a disability “in the
\nfull and equal enjoyment of the goods [and] services . . . of any
\nplace of public accommodation.” Self-declared
\n“testers,” such as Plaintiff, typically claim a lack of
\naccommodation after browsing the Internet for website accessibility
\nissues. With no intent of ever setting foot in the physical
\npremises of businesses or purchasing from their online stores,
\n“testers” will demand monetary and\/or injunctive relief
\nfrom businesses operating these websites. With internet
\naccessibility lawsuits on the rise, it is imperative that
\nbusinesses ensure that their ADA compliance measures are up to
\ndate.<\/p>\n

The Hallyu Korean BBQ Internet Accessibility Lawsuit<\/p>\n

In Campbell v. Hallyu Korean BBQ, the subject
\nPlaintiffis a visually impaired woman that relies on a screen
\nreader to browse websites. Screen readers<\/a> use auditory cues to relay
\ninformation to the visually impaired as they progress through
\nInternet websites. According to Plaintiff, the design of
\nDefendant’s website resulted in her screen reader failing to
\neffectively relay auditory cues. Plaintiff alleged that she became
\nsignificantly disoriented, and thus, was unable to learn about
\nDefendant’s goods and services. As a result, Plaintiff claimed,
\nshe suffered discrimination under the ADA.<\/p>\n

Important Considerations When Facing Website Accessibility
\nClaims<\/p>\n

In internet accessibility lawsuits, a plaintiff typically
\nsuffers an injury in fact when, among other things, “it [is]
\nreasonable to infer, based on the past frequency of plaintiff’s
\nvisits and the proximity of defendants’ [businesses] to
\nplaintiff’s home, that [the] plaintiff intended to return to
\nthe subject location.” A plaintiff’s risk of future harm
\nmust be “material” and “sufficiently imminent and
\nsubstantial.”<\/p>\n

Plaintiffs frequently use conclusory allegations of intent to
\nreturn to meet this standard. Oftentimes, these allegations are
\nboilerplate and mirror language found in numerous website
\naccessibility lawsuits filed by “testers” across
\njurisdictions. Accordingly, businesses must conduct a
\nfact-intensive inquiry to scrutinize every aspect of website
\naccessibility claims for validity. Certain courts<\/a> have made clear that threadbare
\nrecitals and conclusory allegations parroting statutory language do
\nnot allow plaintiffs to proceed beyond the pleading stage.<\/p>\n

Use Preventative Measures to Curtail Accessibility
\nLawsuits<\/p>\n

Many businesses are all too familiar with receiving demand
\nletters that allege violations of the ADA. Some “testers”
\nsend out hundreds of boilerplate letters after quick visits to
\nwebsites, demanding money and remedial accessibility-related
\nwebsite changes. Frequently, these demand letters turn into
\nfull-blown lawsuits if left unaddressed.<\/p>\n

Website operators should remain aware of developing ADA
\nrequirements and implement accessibility compliance measures. To
\nensure compliance and prevent ADA liability, it is essential to
\nconsult with experienced attorneys. The attorneys at Klein Moynihan
\nTurco regularly defend businesses whose websites have been targeted
\nfor alleged lack of disability accommodation.<\/p>\n

Similar Blog Posts:<\/p>\n

Website ADA Lawsuit Filed Against Golden State
\nWarriors<\/a><\/p>\n

Domino Effect: Will SCOTUS Refusal to Hear ADA
\nWebsite Case Yield Flood of Litigation?<\/a><\/p>\n

New ADA Website Legislation Introduced<\/a><\/p>\n

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
\nguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
\nabout your specific circumstances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last month, Hallyu Korean BBQ (“Defendant”) was named as a defendant in an internet accessibility lawsuit in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3559,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[64,63,237,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-18883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-internet","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}