It's a proven fact that consumers make purchases based on email. Yes, people still use email regardless of what your kids tell you. In fact, 76% of emails are opened within the first two days of receipt. Over half are opened on mobile devices. Use these tips to jumpstart a successful email campaign for any business or organization.

Content Management Systems (CMS) are programs on which most websites run. This is special software that lets you edit pages and add content with very little technical knowledge. Using these programs comes at a price. While keeping the current version of a CMS like Wordpress or Joomla seems like the easier route, keeping outdated software comes with some risks.

We have all seen or used them, from the ramp to get into a building, to the handicap bathroom in the back of the store. As a business owner, you know things like these are required by law. What you may not realize is that your website should have similar accessible features.

You may be asking yourself, “is this government mandated?”, “Is this something I really need to be worried about?”, or “Are the people that walk through my door really going to care?”. I hope to try to answer these questions below.

Let me start off with a brief history of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush back in 1990. The “too long; didn’t read” (tl;dr) version is that the law eliminated unnecessary physical barriers to commercial and government buildings - think stairs and bathrooms. It also banned employment discrimination against the disabled. Fast forward to now, and as the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. The law has had some unintended consequences in the form of lawsuits and excessive costs for business owners to meet the ADA guidelines.

The sharks are circling

ADA lawsuits are becoming more prominent. Bank of America, back at the height of the Dot Com Boom, was the first to settle a web-accessibility lawsuit. Currently, it’s larger organizations that are being targeted with lawsuits primarily focused around e-commerce (online shopping). But small businesses are not immune either, as a small Vermont firm selling snowshoes and other winter equipment, Dion Snowshoes, was sued by Berman Law Group of Boca Raton, Florida. The firm was demanding settlement over claims of discrimination against disabled people. In a Florida Record article, John Breslin states that “Dion said that nobody in Florida tried to access the Dion Snowshoes website over the summer, prior to the company receiving the letter, dated Aug. 26 (2016).”

You may be asking yourself how or what are they looking for? The lawsuits typically are filed due to the lack of assistive technology. These are things like alternate text (alt text) on images, being able to navigate the website with a keyboard only, and captions on your videos. In an Op-Ed piece for the LA Times Mark Pulliam writes “Target paid $6 million to settle a class-action suit brought by the National Federation of the Blind, and nearly $4 million more to cover the plaintiffs’ attorney fees and other costs.” It is estimated that there were at least 57 Federal Lawsuits in 2015, 262 in 2016 and as of August 2017, 432!

At that rate 2017 will finish out with 648 suits filed, not including the ones that may be settled out of court. Most of these suits are over what is described as inaccessible websites at a tune of $10,000 - $75,000 a pop.

 

The “Government's” Stance

Even though the ADA was enacted well before the internet was a thing - the courts are divided if websites are even subject to the ADA or just those associated with brick-and-mortars. Some have interpreted the “public accommodation” in the act’s Title III to cover Internet companies and organizations, whereas others have had the opposite opinion. Obviously there is a need for clearer rules, but under the Obama Administration, the Department of Justice (DOJ) took the broader position and didn’t really give us any guidelines. Hopefully we will have something in the next few years. Meanwhile back at the ranch, millions of businesses with websites and web design/web developers (going forward referred to as web agency/agencies) have the worst of both worlds: mandates without directions.

As stated before, the DOJ hasn’t made any official rules to set a standard for accessibility. However they will refer to the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, pronounced Wee-kag and often referred to as the WCAG 2.0. To go a little further into the weeds, there are two laws we can reference and use as guidelines: Title II of the ADA governs private entities, and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act governs publicly funded entities.

Again these two will refer back to WCAG 2.0 and the three degrees (A, AA, AAA) or levels they have for compliance. The levels go from least strict (A) to most strict (AAA), which is nearly impossible to attain. An example of a AAA standard would be “Sign language interpretation is provided for all prerecorded audio content in synchronized media.” Or “The visual presentation of text and images of text has a contrast ratio of at least 7:1” with exceptions. Take this link for example as it would pass AAA standards. The most commonly acceptable level of conformity is WCAG 2.0 AA. For those of us who aren’t lawyers, here is a great site that breaks down everything WCAG 2.0 standards.

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act has done a little better job keeping up with technology needs and trends than the ADA. Congress amended the act to include electronic and information technology be accessible to people with disabilities.

Taken from the Access Board website:

On January 18, 2017, the Access Board published a final rule that jointly updates requirements for information and communication technology covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 255 of the Communication Act. The Section 508 Standards apply to electronic and information technology procured by the federal government, including computer hardware and software, websites, multimedia such as video, phone systems, and copiers. The Section 255 Guidelines address access to telecommunications products and services, and apply to manufacturers of telecommunication equipment.

The final rule jointly updates and reorganizes the Section 508 standards and Section 255 guidelines in response to market trends and innovations, such as the convergence of technologies. The refresh also harmonizes these requirements with other guidelines and standards both in the U.S. and abroad, including standards issued by the European Commission and with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a globally recognized voluntary consensus standard for web content and ICT.

Nothing really matters to me...

All of the above may be a complete shock to you. However, those of us without a disability often times will take it for granted that we can see, hear and/or navigate a website. Imagine for a moment that you can’t use a mouse to navigate and you can only use your keyboard. Can you navigate your site with just the keyboard? Now imagine that your beautifully designed site can’t be seen, all of your photos, videos and graphics - it can only be read to you. Is there enough text on the page to describe what the topic is?

Do the images have alt text that describes them or do they say something like “img_867-5309.jpg?” Chances are probably not, unless you specifically asked for it or you work for a large company that has a team of people whose sole job is to look at this issue and think about it. For the rest of us, it isn’t necessarily your fault or the fault of your web agency. It is not something you have had to consider or research. Should we have thought about and implemented it all along? Yes, of course, but unfortunately it takes someone else's misfortune (AKA the lawsuits) to make us realize we need to take action.

How to protect yourself, other than having a team of lawyers

Getting a WCAG 2.0 A or AA rating takes a decent amount of effort starting at the development level and being carried through to the administrator of the website. One of the first things you can do is to check your current site with the help of these links:

• http://open-indy.github.io/Koa11y/
• http://wave.webaim.org/
• https://www.webpagefx.com/tools/read-able/
• https://developers.google.com/web/tools/lighthouse/#devtools
• https://www.deque.com/axe/

Take a look at where you are failing and see what changes you can make on your end if any. If you want to dive deeper into the testing, you can look into other services and software such as JAWS, ZOOM test, NVDA, or Dragon Natural Speaking, just to name a few.

At some point, a company will face rebranding, usually after a few years of finding a niche and target audience base that necessitates a change in look and feel. The process can be exciting, but without an understanding of the process, it can prove to be challenging if you don’t ask the right questions. Here are nine questions to answer when considering rebranding.

When explaining search engine optimization (SEO) to potential clients, I like to use two analogies. The first is that SEO is like a chess game with Google. The other is that it is also like running a marathon.

Like in chess, you need to think several moves ahead and have a strategy. With SEO, we have to make a move and then wait for Google to respond to the changes we made and determine our next move. Most of the time, we know how the search engines will respond but not every time. Enter the algorithms updates, in other words, when the search engines change how they are ranking sites based on various criteria.

We are steadily plugging our way through 2017, and the closer we get to the future, the more we look ahead to what the future looks like. Just like you’d likely not hire a designer to paint ‘country sampler’ stamp motifs in your kitchen, it is important for web designers to keep up with design trends so websites look fresh and new. Let’s take a look at some of the new designs and features we’re seeing on websites in 2017, as well as what may be here to stay and what is just a fad.

Though blogging was once primarily a vehicle for people to share stories and opinions from their personal lives, it has become an important part of marketing and relationship building for small businesses.

Effective blogging can help you build trust with potential customers and provide an extra level of customer service for your existing clients. It is also an important tool for generating new content for SEO and social media. In this article, we will discuss five reasons blogging is vital for small businesses. 

You have probably seen a small business that impressed you for doing well despite its location. We have all also seen businesses open and thought to ourselves, "I hope they make it, but that building is cursed." In some industries, location is everything. Though your location on the internet is not necessarily important, the principle remains, you want your small business to be visible to your potential clients.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are notorious do-it-yourselfers. Without the backing of major corporations, we need be able to create things and handle our own issues. However, there are some tasks to which we need to trust professionals.

 

Your website is your greatest marketing asset. There are over 3.5 billion google searches every day. Many of those inquiries are regarding services in your industry. The visibility and usability of your website are essential for Google's search engine to recognize your company as the answer to questions your potential clients are asking.

In 2017, to make the most of your website's potential, we encourage you to trust your greatest marketing asset to a professional. In this article, we have compiled four reasons to hire a professional to design and build your company's website. 

1. Your Website Should Attract New Viewers to Your Business

A business website provides you with an opportunity to tell the story of your company to a broader audience. Contrasting a website with a billboard or magazine ad: 

A billboard reaches a limited audience	A website reaches a broader audience
A billboard offers limited message space	A website allows you to tell your full story
A billboard’s appeal is limited by viewers need	Website viewers visit for solutions to problems you help solve
A billboard is available for a limited time	A website is available for as long as the internet exists

 

If you purchased a series of billboard ads, you would expect them to be visible in your service area. If your company services in western North Carolina, you would not be happy to find you were paying for your billboard to be displayed on Rte. 66 in Arizona. Similarly, you want your website to attract views from potential clients. Search Engine Optimization is a key part of ensuring your website is displayed when people search Google. Moz defines it as:

A marketing discipline focused on growing visibility in organic (non-paid) search engine results…[encompassing] both the technical and creative elements required to improve rankings, drive traffic and increase awareness in search engines.

Professional web designers and builders should have SEO in mind when developing your company’s website. Website visibility is an ongoing process, so we recommend working with a local web designer who can tell your company’s story in a way that reaches the right audience.

2. Your Website Should Retain Visitors

According to Hubspot, the average time a person spends on a website is about 15 seconds. It is important to capture the attention of your audience in a short time. The look and feel of your site should coordinate with the information your clients need to know. This means your website should be designed with both UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) in mind.

In other words, your website’s functionality is as important as its appearance. Your web developer should design a website that prominently features the information most likely to capture  your potential clients and retain their attention for more than fifteen seconds.

3. Your Website Functions as a Second Front Door

For small business owners, relationships and building trust with potential clients is key. We believe that if people will walk through the front door, we can take care of them. Your website is like a second front door for your company, a means by which you can make a great first impression. Furthermore, your website helps you begin to build trust with potential clients by telling your story and meeting their needs.

4. Your Website Should Have Great Content

Content is the king and it is increasingly working its way to the forefront of all digital marketing strategies.

Your website’s content is as important as its design. Google’s goal is to match its users with the content most relevant to their inquiries. Google has a complicated algorithm in place that measures a number of factors including, but not limited to:

• Web design
• Mobile friendliness (responsive design, loading size, etc.)
• Relevancy of content to search
• Freshness of content
• Links to content

In other words, if your website is designed with the best practices, and your content is relevant to your current and potential clients, your website will be rewarded by ranking well for related searches. That means your content should be well-written, engaging, and targeted to the people who are most likely to become your clients.

2017 is a great opportunity to resolve to maximize your website’s effectiveness sand profitability by trusting it to the professionals. If you would like to know more about what we can do toward that end, contact us.

Design trends come and go. While some trends we can happily salute as they leave (anyone remember the "Rachel" hairstyle?), some trends bring great visual interest. This is especially true for businesses, where design trends can help set businesses apart. The following slides were presented at the PRIMA NC conference held at A-B Technical Community College in Asheville, NC.

We all have horror stories of service providers and lackluster customer care. Whether it be in a retail operation or the mail service, there are times when you have to dig in your heels as a customer in order to get a fair shake.

So what happens when you, as a customer, may be the one causing issues? Service providers also have horror stories of clients whom they deem “toxic” or a nightmare.

At Cube Creative Design, we pride ourselves on the best in customer service and experience. Rather than “dump a toxic client” like some industry publications suggest, we work through issues and get our clients the best possible outcome and solution for their business or organization. 

 

How can that process flow smooth as buttah? Here are a few tips that will help service providers, especially design services, get you the solution you need and want as quickly as possible:

Expect Good Work to Take Time

Ever heard the saying that you can choose two qualities for work at the expense of the third: good, fast or cheap? Good and fast isn’t cheap; Fast and cheap isn’t good; Good and cheap isn’t fast. This is especially applicable to design work. Expecting a designer to put aside time management priorities or project planning shouldn’t be the norm, and it isn’t reasonable to expect it on a constant basis. So everyone is on the same page, consider asking up front what the project timeline should be. What might delay the project? How should delays be addressed by the designer and by your organization?

Set A Path and Don’t Back-track

One of the hardest things for a designer to do is read a client’s mind. When clients don’t know exactly what they want or need, it can cause infinite revisions. Don’t force designers to make wild stabs in the dark. Clear goals and clear expectations set a good path for both the client and the designer. When giving feedback, be specific and give examples when possible. Rather than “it just doesn’t pop,” you could say something like “this color isn’t bold enough” or “the font seems too thick, let’s try something thinner.” This leads us to…

Don’t Let Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

“Design by committee” is a real problem. It masquerades as getting input from stakeholders or making sure the right people are looped into the decisions, but it can set off an endless cycle of revisions and lead even the best intentions down a tangential path to Timbuktu. Design by committee slows down the design process by preventing works in progress from being finalized because not only do different folks have differing opinions, but also because trying to nail down feedback from a range of people can be time consuming in itself. One of the worst things a client can do is loop in a new opinion during the middle of the design process.

Before a project begins, set a small group (2-3 people) who will champion the project. Have those people collaborate on a game plan before design work starts so everyone involved has a clear expectation of where they should be headed. Instead of wandering through design wilderness, your design sherpa can then get you from start to finish as painlessly as possible!

Don’t Get Personal

The focus of any design should be the end user. What would your customer or client need or want to see from any design that would implore them to seek out more information or make a connection with your organization? Personal color and font choices should have very little place in the design process. There are scientific explorations into the psychology of color and heat maps and eye-tracking studies into the best structures for websites. Allow your designer use that knowledge to make your business succeed. It is always OK to provide feedback that uses your personal perspectives on work, but try to put yourself in the point of view of a client and how they would view it.

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With clear expectations and clearer communication, the design process can be an exhilarating ride that invigorates your excitement for your business or organization’s purpose and vision.