Introducing the Webtivity Referral Rewards Program!

Up to $350 credit for your website and digital marketing referrals

We love our clients and thank them for trusting us with their digital marketing needs. There is no greater compliment than when our valued clients refer us to their business friends. These website and digital marketing referrals have been crucial to Webtivity’s success over the years.

To show our appreciation, we have established a referral reward program. When a client refers someone to us and they hire us for their website design and/or digital marketing, the client will receive a credit and the referral will get a discount. So it’s a Win-Win-Win. The client gets a credit. Referral gets a discount. Webtivity gets a new client.

The great thing about the referral reward program is there is no limit to the number of referrals or credits. If you are currently only a website client, you can refer yourself for digital marketing and get both the credit and the discount.

If you are a previous client, no problem. Refer yourself and come back to Webtivity. We don’t hold a grudge. You will receive both the referring credit and referral discount. After that refer others to earn even more credits.

Click here to learn more about our website and digital marketing referral program and refer someone today

We have tried to make it as easy as possible. On the page above you will find an email template as well as a contact form to get in touch with us.

Please note this referral reward program is effective April 8, 2020. While we appreciate past referrals, we unfortunately cannot make this program retroactive.

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Webtivity Marketing & Design is OPEN and working from home during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. We are not doing face-to-face meetings but are available by our support system, phone at 941-753-7574 or 727-386-7216, email, or video conferencing during our regular hours.

This means all of our marketing and website customers will have full access to the Webtivity Team as normal. You will see us posting for our clients and assisting in every way we can. If you need special COVID-19 messaging added to your website, please let us know. We will not be charging you or your monthly support time for this service.

We would like to thank our clients for your understanding during this unprecedented time. As a proud part of the community, we will overcome this together!

Visit some of these helpful links below for some more information:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Florida Department of Health
• Florida Chamber of Commerce COVID-19 Resource Center
• Florida SBDC Disaster Assistance
• How the Treasury Department is Taking Action

Stay safe, everyone!

#COVID19 #CoronaVirus #Community #WeComeTogether #Bradenton #StPetersburg #ManateeCounty #PinellasCounty #AloneTogether

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Featured Member for MYP Monday at The Manatee Chamber of Commerce

(MYP) Manatee Young Professionals is a social and community resource for young professionals, and has served Manatee County under the guidance and administration of The Manatee Chamber of Commerce since 1999. Their initiatives, such as networking & professional development, community service & awareness, and educational opportunities, create great opportunities for young professionals, ages 21-40. Each Monday, MYP selects a member to feature, and we’re proud to say our own Tim Seward was is this week’s pick!

Tim is our Business Development Director here at Webtivity, and the back-bone of the sales force. Hailing from just outside of Washington D.C, Tim’s background in customer relations, and account management is extensive. He works closely with our Digital Marketing & Design teams to accomplish our customers’ goals.

While serving his customers’ needs is his number one priority, Tim finds time to enjoy the simple things in life. “Huge dork here! I love Star Trek & Star Wars. I play piano & am a Christmas nutcase!” Finding time for the beach with friends, Tim is passionate about people. When asked by MYP what he was passionate about, he responded, “equality and the truth!” That’s why we keep him upfront and center with our customers at Webtivity.

(MYP) Manatee Young Professionals provides opportunities for its longer-serving members to serve on their Leadership Committee, and Tim is a serving member. Under the Chamber’s supervision, the committee organizes and oversees community service projects, networking events for young professionals, community initiatives, and workforce & education opportunities. This is Tim’s second year serving on the Leadership Committee.

For more information on Tim or to begin a new project, please contact him at tseward@webtivitydesigns.com

For more information and how to get involved with (MYP) Manatee Young Professionals, please visit http://www.myponline.com/

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1. What is ADA Compliance?
2. What are the Dangers of Being Non-compliant?
3. Who is Most at Risk of Legal Challenges?
4. What are the Benefits to Being ADA Compliant?
5. How to Test for Being ADA Compliant
6. How to Become ADA Compliant in 5 Easy Steps
7. The Future of ADA Compliance

What is ADA Compliance?

What is ADA? ADA stands for the Americans with Disabilities Act. It became law in 1990 with a stated goal to stop discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life. The ADA has five main components, known as Titles.

For our purposes, Title III of the ADA deals with public accommodations and commercial facilities that include websites. Title III is enforced as a strict liability law by the U.S. Department of Justice. That means there are little to no excuses to be uncompliant.

Web accessibility is an evolving set of requirements with no formal agreed-upon set of standards. Although not legally sourced, courts have referenced WCAG 2.0 in cases involving the ADA.

What are the Dangers of Being Non-compliant?

As of now, the Department of Justice has not independently pursued website owners for being Title III uncompliant. However, individuals affected by perceived non-compliant websites have sued website owners pursuing injunctive relief (e.g., for the company to make its website ADA accessible) and attorneys’ fees.

ADA lawsuits have shown a marked increase in the past few years. 2017 saw 814 ADA lawsuits while 2018 saw that number rise to 2285 cases. Although 2019 numbers are not out yet, it will exceed 2018.

Who is Most at Risk of Legal Challenges?

The rise in ADA related cases has led increasingly to more and more industries being affected. Due to their close interactions with the general public, certain industries present more vulnerable targets to ADA legal action.

Top industries targeted by ADA lawsuits include real estate, retail, travel, entertainment, and foodservice. The list keeps growing as precedents keep being set by previous cases.

A significant portion of the cases, 55%, in 2019 settled within just 60 days. It is often uneconomical to fight these legal challenges and come out victoriously.

What are the Benefits to Being ADA Compliant?

Being ADA compliant is first and foremost a positive development in our pursuit to be a more inclusive society. Every company with an online presence should strive to accommodate as many of its visitors as possible. ADA compliance is simply a continuation of good customer service extended to a larger audience.

ADA compliance forces a website to comfort to the highest Search Engine Optimization standards. The increased rankings will garner more business for compliant websites.

Disabled and other users alike view brands with compliant websites in a more positive light compared to their inaccessible counterparts. Websites built with WCAG guidelines tend to be easier to navigate, increasing positive user experience.

Finally, making efforts to be ADA compliant will protect website owners from being on the wrong end of legal action.

How to Test for Being ADA Compliant

It remains incredibly difficult to ensure full ADA compliance. The WCAG is a best-case scenario set of guidelines.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) maintains a list of tools that can assist in ascertaining the level of WCAG compliance. They do not claim that any single tool is representative of fulfilling all of the guidelines’ requirements.

A full evaluation of every page of a website is the only approach that ensures that all parts meet the WCAG guidelines.

How to Become ADA Compliant in 5 Easy Steps

Easy here is subjective. The steps to make a website ADA compliant are simple yet require huge amounts of labor depending on the size of a website.

1. Review the Website Content Accessibility Guidelines. Webtivity recommends the latest iteration; WCAG 2.1.
2. Use one of the tools listed at the Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools List section of the World Wide Web Consortium. We recommend the WAVE Web Accessibility Tool.
3. Build your website’s content with the best practices in mind. Break up content by headings and sub-headings. Keep content conversational. Google has decent recommendations on how to go about doing this throughout a website.
4. Use a website color scheme that makes use of heavy contrasts instead of lighter or blended colors. WebAIM has a handy contract checking tool to help in picking colors.
5. Evaluate your website code. Have a developer clean and sanitize website code to meet the highest web standards. Screen readers and other accessibility tools have a hard time handling outdated or overly complicated code and scripts. Webtivity recommends Isobar Front-end Code Standards.

The Future of ADA Compliance

The future of web ADA compliance is a contentious subject. The first major case to go to trial, Gil. V. Winn Dixie is still working its way through the courts. The Plaintiff, Juan Carlos Gil, won in a lower court; however Winn Dixie appealed to the Eleventh Circuit. That opinion is due to be issued in the next few months.

Depending on the results, the current legal environment will change in terms of the legal culpability of ADA compliance. However, this is likely to be limited to specific websites; in this case, retailers with physical fronts.

ADA compliance is here to stay. It behooves any website, specifically public-facing websites, to endeavor to be as compliant as possible to web accessibility standards.

Is your website ready to be ADA compliant? Webtivity Marketing & Design is here to guide you through the process of ensuring your website conforms to the highest web standards.

Reach out to us at (941) 753-7574 or send us a message for an immediate answer.

The post Does my Website Need to be ADA Compliant? appeared first on Webtivity Marketing & Design News.

Looking for a fresh website? Need more hits on Google? Check out our Brand New Web Design & SEO Packages – for EVERY  budget! Check out our brand new Web Design & SEO Packages! Start with a redesigned website and roll right into a digital marketing campaign AND get a refreshed website EVERY 3 YEARS! – at ONE monthly fee! Click below to find out more. Look Your Best & Be your Best! It’s Important! It is commonly accepted that websites should be refreshed about every 3 years. This is because search engines like Google reward websites with fresh, clean code & design elements like mobile-responsiveness and others. Keeping an old website is actually hurting you online. ‘Points’ are also given to websites with fresh content. How do you get all this done & run your business? – We’re here to help! Starting with a fresh website, you’ll be ready to make some headway online. What good is your website if it’s not working FOR you? Get your online presence going with WordPress & Webtivity! Starting with the Small-Business Owner in mind, the Economy plan is your start to success online, we wrap it up with the Platinum plan, meant to reach a regional to national audience. Click on the table above to see the full thing! Still not sure what SEO is? Not sure why a fresh website is even important? Click below to learn more about digital marketing & why your business needs it! What is SEO anyway?   JUST need Web Design?? Click here to get a custom quote!   JUST need Marketing?? Click here to get a custom quote! Copyright © *2019* *Webtivity Marketing & Design*, All rights reserved.

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We are proud to announce that we have been named one of the top digital marketing, SEO and branding companies in the greater Tampa area by Clutch! Clutch is a trusted B2B ratings and reviews firm that evaluates regional top-performing companies based on services offered, client feedback, work quality and market presence.

We at Webtivity Marketing & Design strive to always deliver top quality service to all of our clients and inquirers alike. This service centered focus began with our founding in 1999 and has been the cornerstone of our internal company compass as well as the raison d’etre of our success!

Although we don’t do it for the recognition it gives us great pleasure to see others recognize our customer centric approach to digital marketing.

Give us a call at 941-753-7574 or contact us for more information on how we can work closely with you to help your business achieve all of your digital marketing goals!

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