A few weeks ago, Teona and I did a live stream where I mentioned keeping your website compliant. And someone asked after the show, “what does compliance mean for a website?” That’s a great question, so I’m here to answer it. Compliance is a big word for many small puzzle pieces that fit together. Just building your website is not enough; you must ensure it meets specific federal government requirements and international law. Here are the big compliance issues websites need to consider right now.
The CCPA and GDPR
Several laws have been passed in the U.S. and internationally regarding data privacy. Most of us are familiar with how the internet changed after the GDPR, as we saw pop-ups telling us about cookies on every website we visited. In short, the two regulations to know about are:
- CCPA: The California Consumer Privacy Act took effect on January 1st, 2020, and provides consumers with rights and protections about how companies can use their data.
- GDPR: The General Data Protection Regulation is a law created by the European Union that protects online data.
You may think you don’t need to comply with these regulations because you’re not in Europe or California. Still, if you have the potential to do business in either place, your website will need to be compliant. Companies must meet some criteria to be subject to these regulations, which you can read about here.
ADA and WCAG Compliance
Along with data privacy, your website must also comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Inaccessible websites meant individuals with disabilities didn’t have the same access to information, which is just as troubling as denying access to a building or service due to physical limitations.
Along with the ADA, companies need to follow the WCAG or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The Web Accessibility Initiative provides guidelines for this process here.
Several tools are available for businesses to ensure their website is ADA-compliant. On all dpeg Marketing-designed websites, you’ll see that we ensure the right plug-in tool is installed and maintained to provide several accessibility tools for individuals who need them.
Data, Privacy, and Security
dpeg Marketing also ensures that your website has the terms and conditions of your privacy policy posted on your site. Including this in the footer is standard practice, which opens a link to another page that spells out your company’s privacy policy. We can provide a standard legal option for most kinds of businesses or work with you to ensure that the information contained is pertinent to your industry and customized. You can see our terms and conditions here as an example.
Auditing Your Website for Compliance
We always offer potential clients a FREE consultation about their website. Through that process, we discuss whether your website works for you, generates additional revenue, and matches your company’s mission, vision, and voice. We can also let you know if your website is compliant with the current requirements for both privacy and accessibility. The consultation is FREE, and there is no obligation.
Do you know if your website is compliant?
Talk to dpeg Marketing to learn about web design and content writing for your organization.
dpeg Marketing Company has 5 spots open for website design in 2023. We partner with tiny house, agriculture, outdoor, brewing, equine businesses, and community organizations to help them grow. We can help you optimize your site and integrate the essential tools. You can build your reputation and be recognizable with the right systems.
Contact us for a FREE consultation by emailing [email protected] or calling (828) 333-3816.
