How Olive Street Design Turned Compliance into Opportunity
By partnering with Duda and AudioEye, Olive Street Design not only increased web accessibility and compliance among its website clients but also carved out a new avenue for growth and client trust.
1,300
Educating and engaging 1,300 clients about web accessibility compliance
192
Selling 192 web accessibility packages (and counting)
Mitigating legal risks for the agency and its clients
In early 2022, Olive Street Design, a Chicago-based web design and development agency, received several calls from clients inquiring about web accessibility. Some had received demand letters related to ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Years before, Olive Street had switched from WordPress to Duda as their flagship website builder. As a result, the agency experienced 75% reduction in website build times, increased client acquisition and sales 4x, and was able to start building websites at a quality level they never thought possible.
While Duda offers built-in features facilitating website accessibility, such as keyboard navigation, automatic language detection, and focus highlights, Olive Street couldn't guarantee complete compliance for all client websites due to variations in business types and jurisdictional requirements.
Consulting with their attorneys revealed that if a client faced a lawsuit, it could potentially extend to the agency. The gravity of the situation became apparent: "The more I looked into it, the more nervous I got," shares Nat Rosasco, Chief Creative Director and Owner of Olive Street.
Websites Should Be Accessible To Anyone
"We didn't want us or our clients to be sued, and we also wanted to do the right thing", explains Nat. "There are so many people with accessibility issues, and all of them should be able to access a website and read it."
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 16% of the world’s population has a disability, which represents 1.3 billion people. This number is projected to reach 2 billion by 2030 as the global population ages.
Accessible websites should cater to people with auditory, visual, or cognitive disabilities, as well as those who rely on voice commands, screen readers, or other assistive technologies. This means ensuring all web pages have alt text for images and video, proper color contrast, enlarged cursors, dyslexia-friendly fonts, among many other considerations.
So how could Olive Street address accessibility and ongoing compliance challenges for all their 1,300 website clients?
Finding the Right Partners
The answer became clear when Nat attended a Duda Customer Summit in June 2023. During the event at the Duda’s Colorado office, Nat was introduced to the AudioEye team. AudioEye is a digital accessibility platform seamlessly embedded in Duda's App Store that automatically identifies, monitors, and rectifies accessibility issues.
AudioEye´s Accessibility Score provides data on the pages scanned, items rectified by the software, and remaining risks and errors requiring attention. It also supplies official accessibility auditor documentation to support site owners in managing and addressing accessibility concerns.
Working with Duda, AudioEye and Olive Street’s attorneys, the agency’s team devised a strategic email campaign to educate and engage clients. This campaign emphasized the importance of accessibility, outlining its benefits and risks, offering insights on fostering inclusivity, mitigating legal risks, and enhancing user experience. Additionally, it highlighted the marketing and brand loyalty advantages that accompany accessibility.
Crucially, the email campaign presented clients with a clear choice:
Opt for an AudioEye web accessibility compliance package at $39/month.
Assume all the associated liabilities.
"This was the key," emphasizes Nat. "It turned the corner."
Through this strategic pivot, Olive Street Design observed a remarkable surge in client interest in web accessibility. Presently, 192 clients have subscribed to the accessibility package. By transforming compliance into an opportunity, Olive Street Design not only protected their agency and clients but also established a new revenue stream.
After just a few months, Olive Street Design made Duda its flagship product with all new websites built on the platform and many of their existing clients’ sites transitioned off of WordPress.
"The impact went beyond numbers," says Nat. "Clients expressed gratitude for the newfound clarity and understanding surrounding web accessibility compliance."
Listen to Nat telling the full story during this session at Dudacon 2023!
