Accessibility & Compliance

Did you know that over 25% of our population has some sort of disability? Aside from the more common things we think of such as an amputee, or visually impaired, there are also folks that suffer from seizures and color blindness. All of those impairments if you will affect their interaction with your website.

The more accessible you make your site, the broader the population can utilize it, which in turn increases your potential customer base.

The other side of the coin is that there is an abundance of attorneys out there that are looking for websites that are not "accessible" and sending those site owners demand letters for thousands of dollars for reparations. And they're getting away with it. It's expensive to fight so often the demand is just paid... which fuels their fire to go after more businesses.

So the solution? I've partnered with a company called accessiBe to provide website accessibility functionality for my clients. They've developed a "widget" that embeds into your website. It allows an otherwise impaired individual to render the site to suit their needs. Whether it be larger fonts, different colors, etc., it makes it easier for them to utilize your website.

You may have already seen this icon at the foot of many of the sites you visit.

The additional feature about accessiBe that I really like is their subscription covers not only the functionality of the widget, you are legally protected by them in the event of a demand letter or a lawsuit pertaining to accessibility on your website.

Annual Pricing: $500.00

So another necessary evil as I call it is the need for a Privacy policy and a Cookie policy. I'm sure you're no stranger to clicking those pesky pop up bars at the bottom of every. single. website. you visit these days. Or the fact that data seems to be floating out wild in the cloud.

Safeguarding your customers' privacy is not only a business requirement, but also an important way to protect your business from regulatory fees and negative exposure.

Did you know that in 2023, five US States will introduce new Privacy Laws, and 26 more have proposed bills in the legislative process? You may have heard of some already, like GDPR (European General Data Protection Regulation) and CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act).

I'm working with a company called Termly to provide the necessary website policies to protect your business. They also offer a subscription service, and their policies are maintained on a regular basis by their attorneys. Like AccessiBe, a snippet of code is inserted in the the website and the policies are automatically updated. At least that part is simple!