Domino’s loses US lawsuit against its iPhone app

The pizza chain Domino’s has lost a law suit in the US after a blind customer said that he was unable to change his order or complete his purchase using the firm’s iPhone app – showing that even the world’s biggest brands are sometimes guilty of ticking all of the boxes when it comes to accessibility and app design.

The Domio’s customer had tried to change the toppings selected for his pie on the Domino’s iPhone app but found that he couldn’t do so and then was unable to complete his purchase to order the pizza using the app.

Although the case was first raised in 2016 and dismissed when it was first raised over a year ago, the customer’s appeal was successful yesterday, after three years of legal wrangling. App developers and those who have just taken our business-in-a-box mobile app development opportunity should take note as this could set a precedent for other customers across a range of industries around the world.

The customer, Guillermo Robles, took legal action against the restaurant chain on the basis that although Apple devices have screen-reading software which is designed to help visually impaired users, this wasn’t utilied in the Domino’s app. IN order for the screen-reading function to work, visual components of the app or website including images need to be tagged by the app developer. Because neither the app nor website had the tags, he was unable to customize his order or check out.

Mr Robles argued that because tagging didn’t contravene the ‘undue burden’ clause in the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, Domino’s had breached the law. The Act states that it is unlawful for businesses to deny access to goods and services to individuals with a disability unless doing so puts them under an ‘undue burden’.

Although the lawsuit was dismissed in 2017 because the presiding judge deemed that the Act hadn’t specified which websites and apps were covered – or were exempt – a panel of judges overturned that decision earlier this week saying it did not absolve Domino’s of its responsibilities towards visually impaired customers. The case has now been referred back to the district court, which must decide if the Domino’s app is adequately designed for use by users with a visual impairment.

The equivalent legislation in the UK is the Equality Act 2010 and it requires app developers and website developers to ensure that blind and partially sighted users retain access to their goods and services.