Websites should be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust using assistive technologies and adaptable strategies.
The insulated box of 3 gourmet meals arrives on the doorstep of a DINK (dual income no kids) weekly. Perfectly portioned ingredients, all carefully labeled, are accompanied by slick recipe cards delineating prep time and process. Three hundred fifty thousand customers worldwide will eat well tonight.
When Blue Apron hit the market in 2012, the concept was revolutionary. By 2015, Blue Apron introduced the family plan, packaged and delivered meals in family-size portions.
The first meal kit to go public, Blue Apron lost $23.7M in the last three months of 2019. A long list of competitors had surfaced including Home Chef, Plated, Sun Basket, Hello Fresh, Bistro MD, Medifast, Trifecta, Veestro, Snap Kitchen, and Peach Dish.
Beleaguered with falling stock values since it first went public, Blue Apron is one of many online businesses sued for failure to meet ADA content accessibility on its website. The plaintiff claimed that Blue Aron did not meet WCAG 2.0 standards which hindered visually impaired individuals the ability to use basic features on the site. In 2017, the District Court for the District of New Hampshire denied Blue Apron’s motion to dismiss based on the fact they had no traditional brick and mortar locations.
Then came the pandemic. Blue Apron’s net revenue for the third quarter of 2020 increased 13% year over year to $112.3 million proving that Americans and markets are fickle.
Sixty-plus percent of the Internet Retailer's Top 500 have been named in an ADA Web or App lawsuit in the past two years.
Demand letters and lawsuits typically demand compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level AA guidelines. WCAG 2.0 is based on four principles: Websites should be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust using assistive technologies and adaptable strategies.
Chew on this. Does your website need ADA upgrades? Unleaded can help.