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NEWS: Funimation Sued in Class-Action Lawsuit for Allegations of Violating Americans with Disabiliti

Not to sound mean, but if blind, how can you watch cartoons? Expect them to sound out the action or something?

This short article fails to mention if the plaintiff made attempt to bring this situation to the attention of Funimation's web manager through email or phone call, or if the plaintiff just immediate jumped on the lawsuit bandwagon without a second thought. Lawsuits are expensive, even if you win, and should never be the first course of action. ANN news can be a bit skimpy at times.

In 2019, according to an analysis by international legal firm Seyfarth Shaw, web accessibility federal lawsuits hit record numbers, with 11,053 suits filed in federal court, an 8.8% increase from 2018.3 California led the way with 4794 web accessibility lawsuits, which may be in response to a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit which reversed a federal judge’s 2017 dismissal of a case against Domino’s Pizza. A man who is blind complained that he was unable to use Domino’s website or mobile app because neither was accessible. This reversal might have triggered more plaintiffs to launch web accessibility lawsuits in California.

It’s important to understand that web accessibility is anything but frivolous. Disabilities commonly affect the way people go online. Instead of typing on a keyboard, some individuals may use toggle switches or voice input. Instead of looking at images, they may only be able to read descriptive text on the page, using screen-reading software. Or they may need to magnify a web page before they can read it. Websites must use accessible design for these Internet use methods to work.

If you don’t have the disability-related experience, just think about how lost you’d be if you couldn’t quickly look up the arrival time of the next commuter train on your smartphone or consult the weather forecast as you’re headed out the door. Without web accessibility, millions of people with disabilities miss out on these simple conveniences.

As we noted in a previous post on ADA reform, the majority of ADA lawsuits are legitimate. The people with disabilities who filed these lawsuits experienced real digital barriers.

It’s important to note when plaintiffs file federal lawsuits under the ADA, they cannot sue for monetary damages. A plaintiff can only seek reimbursement of their legal fees as well as remediation of the inaccessibility in question. They aren’t launching litigation because they’re looking for some quick cash. The reason they sue is to compel a business that has violated federal law to change its discriminatory practices.

Funimation's site has never been great its common knowledge among anime fans for over a decade now. I understand this person's problem but to sue Funimation for it is extreme and a waste of time.

Would this also mean they need to provide an (exactly as effective) alternative for people who might be deaf and blind? Say, a braille based copy of all the products they have available for sale?

This short article fails to mention if the plaintiff made attempt to bring this situation to the attention of Funimation's web manager through email or phone call, or if the plaintiff just immediate jumped on the lawsuit bandwagon without a second thought. Lawsuits are expensive, even if you win, and should never be the first course of action. ANN news can be a bit skimpy at times.

I'm actually a totally blind anime fan. I've reached out to Funi about access issues with the Funimation Now app in past and gotten no response, so I'm certain this isn't the first they've heard about access issues. Unfortunately the ADA does not allow for any other enforcement methods aside from the judicial route. As has been said before these sort of cases usually settle out of court with a small sum to the party in question and a commitment to improve access with in a set time period. If companies would actually take this sort of thing seriously I doubt we'd need to resort to legal advocacy but out of sight out of mind seems to be the general aditude toward disabled persons. Someone braught up audio description and I'd certainly love to see that for sure.

Spike Terra wrote:

So my question is that if Funimation just meets the demands of the plantiffs, does the lawsuit get dropped or do they still have to go to court?

Previously in the thread:

TheTJ87 wrote:

these sort of cases usually settle out of court with a small sum to the party in question and a commitment to improve access with in a set time period.

I’m sighted so this isn’t something that I rely on, but if this is true, that’s troubling and I hope they address it. Something this also got me thinking about, I know Netflix has audio descriptions but I don’t think audio descriptions are common in anime generally. Is this something that can be addressed?

I think the fact that the person who brought this suit can't get a monetary payout is an important point and would probably be a good note to add to the article. Litigation for money is so common that people just immediately jump to that as the reason any time a lawsuit comes up in the news.