David Blacker - Review & Testimonial

So we have a David Blacker from Venerate Digital, and again, from us, at accessiBe, we appreciate you as a partner for jumping on board and, you know, agreeing to answer just a couple of questions as an interview here.

I'm sure you're busy with the holidays and preparing for quarter one. So I'll get right to it and jump right in. First and foremost, wanted to ask you, you know, what made you look for an accessibility solution for your clients?

Initially, we were approached by an HR law firm that wanted to partner with us to hand-code and accessibility solutions. And after dozens of hours of research, we came to the determination that not only was it going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but there was going to be the daily updates and upkeep of making sites viable to stay in lockstep with the ADA solution. There had to be a better way, a better solution. So, essentially what you're saying is that you were initially approached to create your accessibility solution initially with this firm.

Yeah.

About two years ago, this HR law firm reached out to Venerate Media Group and said, can you partner with us? And there was no off the shelf solution like accessiBe. There was only hand-coding. And with hand-coding, you require changes, which looking ahead, that meant to us that either we were charging exorbitant rates to not just the law firm. Still, their clients—also taking time away from my team to update every page that they added daily and keep in lockstep with the changes in ADA.

Yeah. So for someone that, you know, you have this HR law firm approaching you guys to create the solution, and as you mentioned, you've done, you know, hours and hours of research, so, you know, I'm sure that means that it was very important for you to make your client's websites accessible.

So I guess the next question would be, you know, why is it important for you to make your client's websites accessible?

Well, as you know, there's litigious exposure, which I don't have to tell you, that's the world that you live in. A lot of my clients they're out there; they’ve just, by having a website today, you've exposed themselves to legitimate lawsuits and also the trolls out there that are just looking to make a buck.

And what we've done is essentially like putting that sign on your property at your house, that alarm company sign that says, Hey thief, move on to the next house because yeah, you could break in here and steal things. Still, it’s going to be easier if you go to the next house that doesn't have the alarm system, what we've said to anyone, looking for a quick win or a fast buck by suing our clients to move on to the next website, by having that logo that gives people accessibility.

Plus, there's the added caveat and the most important part, that we're giving more and more people with accessibility issues access to my customer's websites. And as a by-product, we're improving their SEO, we're improving their reach, and they're adding many more customers as a by-product.

That’s well put. Yeah. You have one side of it where you have many attorneys looking to take advantage of, you know, business owners, and, you know, it's good to be accessible. And not only for that, even though, you know, we see a lot of the demand is for that compliance, but also the value of, you know, making the internet more accessible place for people with disabilities. And you know, we appreciate that you're able to see both sides of the coin there.

And last but not least, I just, in conclusion, I want to ask you, you know, there are many webs

accessibility solutions out there, so why did you choose to partner up with accessiBe?

Well, mainly, it's the personalities of the folks that work at accessiBe. Everybody's so damn charming, but thanks.

Thanks.

Why I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about Rafi. No, he's great.

We looked at a few off the shelf solutions now that there are some; back when we first started looking at this, everything was either a WordPress plug-in or a Shopify plug-in that needed updates. And again, that would have fallen back on my team to do. And if you're not closely monitoring, you're going to end up losing out. So something that can potentially

be lucrative and earn revenue for your agency will end up costing you money in the long run.

Plus, it takes away time, and this is plug and play. That's what I liked most about it’s that we can set it and forget it. And then, once a year, I follow up with

my clients and see if they want to renew. It's essentially an insurance policy for them. So, of course, they want to renew, and it's a cost-effective solution.

So rather than the $30,000 of hand-coding or the wonky WordPress plugins that may or may not work and need constant updates, this is more of a set it and forget it solution, which I tell my team all the time, I need less on my plate.

Daily, as the owner of a digital marketing firm, we don't want to add more. We want to add less. And that's what accessiBe offers us is less on my plate, less to worry about, and more revenue.

We appreciate that. Our goal is to provide that win-win for us as a company, which allows you not to have to compromise your time, but still get, you know, a high or the highest standard of accessibility. And, and I'm happy that's able to, to benefit, your agency, and we just appreciate you coming on board and, you know, answering a couple of questions for us here.