On September 25, 2020, Dilenia Paguada filed a complaint in New York that alleges that the official Dallas Cowboys Pro Shop is not accessible according to WCAG 2.1 standards.
In Paguada v. Dallas Cowboys Pro Shops, LP, as obtained from Accessibility.com, the plaintiff alleges that the inaccessibility of shop.dallascowboys.com violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL).
A number of accessibility violations are alleged, including:
- Many features on the Website lack alt text.
- The purpose of each link cannot be determined from the link text alone or from the link text and its programmatically determined link context.
- Headings and labels do not describe topic or purpose.
- Keyboard user interfaces lack a mode of operation where the keyboard focus indicator is visible.
The Bureau of Internet Accessibility did not verify or validate the claims other than a quick review of keyboard focus indication, which does appear to be lacking on the site.
Using your website with a keyboard is one of the fastest ways you can begin to assess your own site's accessibility. If you find that you can't perform tasks without a mouse, that alone is significant and it's likely that deeper accessibility issues are present. Read more: Give Yourself an Accessibility Test: Don't Use a Mouse.
It's worth noting that WCAG 2.1 are the standards identified in the complaint. Additionally, the complaint seems to indicate violation of both federal and New York City law.
You can learn more about the information presented here on Accessibility.com. If you're looking to get started on ensuring your own accessibility compliance, please visit our Compliance Roadmap.
