A blind man is suing Playboy because their website is not accessible to the visually impaired.
Donald Nixon has filed the lawsuit against the company claiming its website violates the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits discrimination based on disability.
The Americans with Disabilities Act National Network explains:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public.
The purpose of the law is to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.
It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications.
Playboy.com and Playboyshop.com are not compatible with Nixon’s screen-reading software, meaning he can’t access the content of the sites by converting the on-screen text into speech or braille.
I know a lot of you are probably thinking the pictures of the Playboy models are the main attraction of the websites, but there are articles on there too! Admittedly I wasn’t aware of this until I checked just now, but it’s only fair that Nixon has access to Playboy’s hard-hitting journalism.
According to TMZ, Nixon is legally blind and has argued that visually impaired people like him ‘cannot fully and equally use or enjoy the facilities, products, and services’.
The determined man’s goal in suing the company is to get them to change their websites so they’re complicit with accessibility requirements for the blind.
According to the Association of Corporate Counsel, those who violate the Americans with Disabilities Act can be faced with a $55,000 (£43,000) fine if it is their first violation, or up to $110,000 (£86,100) for any following violations.
The Act also prevents those who violate it from retaliating against anyone who files a charge of disability-based discrimination.
Playboy haven’t commented on the lawsuit, but hopefully Nixon will get his way and the sites will soon be accessible to all.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.