MJBiz - July 2023 - 28

A Site for Everyone
'Serial Plaintiff s' Target
Cannabis Business Websites
It didn't take long for a lawsuit to be fi led
against New York's fi rst adult-use cannabis
shop.
Housing Works Cannabis Co. opened its
doors on Dec. 29. By Jan. 17, a visually
impaired woman from Brooklyn, New York,
had fi led a complaint against the shop
for allegedly violating the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA).
Attorney Dan Shaked fi led the class action
lawsuit against Housing Works on behalf of
Rasheta Bunting, who is visually impaired,
over the company's alleged " failure to design,
construct, maintain and operate their website
to be fully accessible to and independently
usable by Plaintiff and other blind or visually
impaired persons. "
Accessible websites allow users to customize contrast, text size and other
features for easier comprehension. Image courtesy PufCreativ
Shaked has fi led multiple lawsuits in the
Eastern and Southern district courts of New
York alleging that companies' websites are
not in compliance with the ADA. Shaked
declined to comment on the cases, citing
confi dentiality reasons.
the content and purpose of images such as charts, illustrations and
photographs.
Screen readers convert digital text into audio to enable users with
visual impairments to engage with a website, but if the web designer
hasn't included alt tags on the content, they are worthless.
" If there are a lot of images, make sure they have alt tags so people
can use a screen reader, " Foytho said. " People might skip around
with a screen reader, so you want to make sure if they hit 'next' that
it goes to the right page. You need to make sure everything can be
read in the order that makes sense. "
Using only color to differentiate information will make it diffi cult
for people who are color blind to decipher the content, and mouseonly
navigation will not let people who can't use a mouse or trackpad
to navigate content if they use keyboards to get around a website.
Online forms might be diffi cult for people to fi ll out if they don't
have things such as labels that screen readers can convey to users,
including text that reads " credit card number " where the number
should be entered or " error " to indicate that a fi eld is missing or
incorrect.
Website accessibility is a key component for any company,
cannabis or otherwise, but many business owners aren't aware that
people with disabilities have trouble with navigating their sites.
" Very few of our cannabis clients ask us about ADA compliance, "
Foytho said. " Cannabis clients are worried about their menu and
making sure people can fi nd their website so they can order. But
accessibility should be a priority. No one is safe from liability. "
28 July 2023 | MJBizMagazine
Numerous " serial plaintiff s " have collectively
fi led hundreds, if not thousands, of websiteaccessibility
lawsuits in federal courts across
the country, according to Rob Thorpe, a
partner with New York-based law fi rm Barclay
Damon.
Stein Saks, which bills itself as a " consumer
protection law fi rm " and has offi ces in New
Jersey and New York, has fi led more than
1,180 ADA lawsuits in recent years, including
435 on behalf of six plaintiff s since January
2022, mainly in federal district courts in New
York, Thorpe said.
Now, the cannabis industry appears to be a
target, and it's not only New York marijuana
retailers that are coming under fi re.
" When something new comes along like
cannabis, it's like there's a race to get there
fi rst, " Thorpe said.
A complaint fi led in 2020 against Caliva,
a California cannabis company backed by
rapper Jay-Z, alleges that the business'
website is inaccessible to blind users because
screen readers can't decipher it due to a lack
of alternative text, labels and other metadata.
Other cannabis companies hit with ADA
lawsuits over the years include Charlotte's
Web, CV Sciences, Green Growth Brands and
Elixinol.
- Margaret Jackson
MJBiz - July 2023

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