A visually-impaired individual has filed a class action lawsuit against a footwear company, alleging its website is inaccessible to blind users. Haron Cole lodged the complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on January 16, 2025, accusing Kizik Design, LLC of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Haron Cole, who is legally blind and requires screen-reading software to access digital content, claims that Kizik Design's website, kizik.com, is not fully accessible to individuals with visual impairments. According to Cole's complaint, the site contains numerous barriers that prevent blind users from navigating and completing transactions independently. These barriers include issues such as inaccurate landmark structures, inadequate focus order, ambiguous link texts, and interactive elements that require mouse usage instead of keyboard navigation. The lawsuit states that these accessibility issues deny blind customers equal access to the goods and services offered by Kizik Design both online and at their physical locations.
The complaint highlights the broader context of web accessibility challenges faced by visually impaired individuals in the United States. Citing statistics from a 2010 U.S. Census Bureau report and data from the American Foundation for the Blind, Cole emphasizes that millions of Americans are visually impaired or blind. The suit argues that despite available technology solutions used by other retailers to ensure web accessibility—such as alternative text for images and keyboard navigable interfaces—Kizik Design has failed to implement these measures on its website.
Cole seeks a permanent injunction requiring Kizik Design to modify its website policies and practices to comply with ADA standards. The plaintiff also requests compensatory damages for those affected by what he describes as unlawful discrimination due to the site's inaccessibility. The case underscores ongoing legal debates about digital accessibility under federal disability laws.
Representing Haron Cole is attorney David Reyes from Asher Cohen Law PLLC. The case has been assigned Case No.: 1:25-cv-536 in front of judges at the Northern District of Illinois court.