Apparently, some people really do read Playboy for the articles. Or at least try to.
Playboy.com was sued Wednesday by a legally blind man who says that the site, as well as Playboyshop.com, aren’t equally accessible to the blind and visually impaired.
In the class-action suit, filed Wednesday in federal court in New York, Donald Nixon says that he and other visually-impaired customers are unable to “fully and equally use or enjoy” the site’s offering. And that definitely goes on the Turn-Offs list.
“Due to the inaccessibility of Defendant’s Website, blind and visually-impaired customers such as Plaintiff, who need screen-readers, cannot fully and equally use or enjoy the facilities, products, and services Defendant offers to the public on its Website,” the suit reads. “The access barriers Plaintiff encountered have caused a denial of Plaintiff’s full and equal access in the past, and now deter Plaintiff on a regular basis from visiting the Website, presently and in the future.”
According to the suit, Nixon employs screen-reading software to access the internet. During his visits to the site, the lawsuit says, Nixon “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; and that denied Plaintiff the full enjoyment of the facilities, goods and services of the Website, by being unable to learn more information, the ability to browse products available for delivery, find information on promotions and coupons, and related goods and services available online.”
TheWrap has reached out to a Playboy spokesperson for comment on the suit, which accused the company of violating the Americans With Disabilities Act, among other counts.
Along with unspecified damages, the suit wants Playboy.com to change its procedures so that it’s equally accessible to the sight-impaired.
“Because Defendant’s website, www.playboy.com and www.playboyshop.com (the ‘Website’ or ‘Defendant’s website’), is not equally accessible to blind and visually-impaired consumers, it violates the ADA,” the suit reads. “Plaintiff seeks a permanent injunction to cause a change in Defendant’s corporate policies, practices, and procedures so that Defendant’s website will become and remain accessible to blind and visually-impaired consumers.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.