Legally Blind Man Sues Playboy.com Alleging Website Is ‘Inaccessible’

NEW YORK (CBSLA) — A blind man has sued Playboy.com alleging the website is inaccessible to individuals who are visually-impaired.

Donald Nixon filed his lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York as a potential class-action.

In the suit, Nixon alleges that the men’s lifestyle and entertainment magazine was in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws for “constructing and maintaining a website that is inaccessible to visually-impaired individuals, including Plaintiff … ”

“During Plaintiff’s visits to the Website, the last occurring in November 2018, Plaintiff encountered multiple access barriers that denied Plaintiff full and equal access to the facilities, goods and services offered to the public and made available to the public, the suit claimed.

Those barriers, the suit claims, include lack of alternative text (“alt-text”), or a text equivalent, empty links, redundant links, and linked images missing alt-text.

“If the Website was equally accessible to all,” the suit said, “Plaintiff could independently navigate the Website and complained the desired transaction as sighted individuals do.”

The suit is seeking both injunctive relief and compensatory damages.