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accessiBe Review: How to Protect Your Site from ADA/WCAG Regulations

Nov 26, 2020 | website

Have you ever thought about how many people might access your site over its lifetime? Even if you are only getting a few hundred or a few thousand visitors daily, this adds up to a massive number over several months and years.

Now think about how many people might be trying to visit your site, but not able to use it because of a limitation or disability that they might have. This might only be a small percentage, but even if it was just 1% or 2%, that adds up to hundreds or even thousands of people that were simply pushed away and left with a bad experience.

If you knew people were having a hard time visiting and using your site because of a mobile-responsive site issue, you’d probably fix it right away. So, why are so many bloggers and site owners oblivious to their audiences with disabilities that limit site usage?

For the most part, it’s often because it’s not something we can accurately track or even think about. However, with the latest ADA and WCAG guidelines and regulations in place, it’s now a requirement for sites, brands and businesses to make sure their sites are accessible by all audiences.

To help with this process, accessiBe has created a web accessibility solution that can make any website, blog, ecommerce store or business site compliant in as little as 48 hours.

Let’s take a look at this new revolutionary solution, how it works, and how you can provide a better user experience in the process.

accessiBe Review: Making Websites More Accessible

With the implementation of the recent ADA and WCAG guidelines and regulations, websites of all types now need to make sure their sites are compliant and fully accessible by all audiences. This would be in reference to anyone with visual and hearing issues, conditions that can be triggered by different types of content, or even those with sensory issues.

However, even with all of that being said, there is no simple way to customize the look and feel of your site to cater to each and every person that comes to your site.

And this is something accessiBe has been focusing their efforts on for quite a while now. After frivolous testing, consulting with individuals that have special needs and working alongside Fortune 500 companies, accessiBe has created an artificial intelligence-powered platform that can make any site fully accessible to all audiences.

The way accessiBe works is quite advanced, yet seamless and beautiful at the same time. With their solution already running across more than 65,000 small business sites and industry leaders like Hilton, Billabong, Fiverr and others… it’s not unlikely that for you to have already come across their technology on a site you’ve previously visited.

How and Why accessiBe Works So Well

In order to truly appreciate how and why accessiBe works so well, it’s best to visit a site that already has the tool in action.

To do this, we could visit a site like Fiverr, where you will see a little disability wheelchair icon at the bottom corner of the screen.

If you were to click it, you would then see a window popup like the one in the screenshot.

With such a tool in place, not only does it provide a complete array of accessibility tools and features to choose from, it also allows for the site to never have to disappoint and shy away users again.

Of the features listed on this Accessibility Adjustments tool, you will find:

Screen-reader optimization for blind users
Keyboard navigation optimization for the motor impaired
On-page, live dictionary/glossary for people with cognitive disorders
Stopping all flashing animations to prevent epileptic seizures
UI and design adjustments for the visually impaired
And more…

And for business owners and brands that don’t already have such a solution in place, the set up and implementation process of such a feature on your site is likely easier and more cost effective than you think.

The process in which accessiBe works with their partner sites is quite seamless, and also offers no need for any technical or design skills. Instead, it’s simply a matter of creating an account, copying a line of code to your site and then letting the AI-powered platform do the work for you.

In as little as 48 hours, your site could be up and running with its own Accessibility Application, while also being 100% ADA and WCAG compliant. And best of all, if there are any new regulations or new laws that come into play, the application will automatically update from accessiBe’s end.

Now that you’ve had a chance to see accessiBe in action, it’s time to see how your site performs in their site accessibility tool.

How to Run an Accessibility Compliance Check on Your Site

To see if your site is fully compliant, all you need to do is visit the aCe accessibility audit tool created by accessiBe. It’s free and easy to use, and you don’t even need to enter any contact information.

Once on the site, you can enter your site URL. Then click on the “Get Results” button.

In just a few seconds time, aCe will run a quick audit on your site to see where it might be compliant, or lacking in full accessibility.

According to the tool, even a site like Apple.com might not be fully compliant.

No matter what site you put in, it will be assigned a score and will also provide you with a full breakdown of areas that need improvement. Such areas and factors include clickables, titles, orientation, menus, graphics, forms and more.

If you run a compliance test on your site and find a bunch of issues in place, the accessiBe tool would be able to clean up all of these problems and make it fully compliant.

What is the Cost of accessiBe?

Having walked through the many benefits, features and working processes that accessiBe has to offer, one might think it would be quite an expensive service and application to implement on your site.

However, in comparison to the costs of hiring a custom designer and programmer to accomplish the same, it’s quite minimal. And when you factor in the legal costs of not having a compliant site, then you are getting into the hundreds of thousands, and even millions of dollars.

In fact, according to this recent Forbes article, “major corporations such as Domino’s Pizza, Nike, Burger King and Hershey’s” have all been subject to massive lawsuits in reference to ADA and WCAG accessibility laws.

With that being said, the actual cost of adding an Accessibility Application to your site is much lower in comparison.

The standard plan for websites with under 1,000 uniques per month is $490 per year. And if you have higher traffic levels, premium plans are available to address those needs, no matter how big your brand or online business might be.

Protect Your Site and Brand, While Improving User Experience

At the end of the day, the main goal for every business and brand in the world today should be to provide the best user experience possible. This is why most site owners should want to implement such a solution, and not to just avoid any possible legal action in the future.

The good news is, both of these issues are quickly resolved when getting accessiBe up and running on your site.

If your site and brand isn’t currently 100% accessible, right now is a great time to run a free compliance check on your site, while also seeing how a solution like accessiBe can improve your site experience for visitors across the board.

7 Life-saving Video Copyright Laws To Protect Your Videos

Oct 7, 2020 | Video Marketing

Video Copyright Laws – What You Should Know About?

Today in this digital era when it’s extremely easy for others to copy your work, you are sure to get devastated. Isn’t it? What do you do to protect your videos?

Don’t worry there are YouTube copyright rules to protect your videos.

Copyright is a form of intellectual property law that protects any original works of the creator for a set period. The law grants you, the copyright owner an exclusive right to control how your work will be used and who can make money from it. This protection law also allows you to determine who can share it on YouTube. Video copyright laws fall under federal law.

Learn about the 7 Life-saving Video Copyright Laws To Protect Your Videos:

1. Copyright infringement

The act of using or producing of copyright-protected material without the creator’s permission is termed as Copyright Infringement. In other words, infringement occurs when a third party breaches any produced/creative work of the copyright holder and publishes/uses it as his/her own.

According to the YouTube copyright infringement laws, if a person is found liable for copyright infringement, he/she may have to face damages of up to $150,000. The law also determines that if the court finds the infringement action willful, then the penalty is even higher.

2. Legal Sound Bites

We can’t deny the importance of sound in videos. A video is not complete without the appropriate use of sounds (music or any voice-over). So, everybody is always in search of suitable audio for their productions. Interestingly, as the internet provides a vast collection of different types of clips, sound effects, etc. and it’s really tempting to use these materials readily available. Nevertheless, it is always easy to fall into the trap of infringing someone else’s copyright also. People doing so will be liable for violating copyright law. So, there’s nothing to worry about your produced audio.

However, you too should be well aware of audio copyright violation. Always focus on creating your audio. But sometimes it becomes extremely difficult to create your own sound bites such as music and sound effects, in this regard you can hire someone to create it for you. Moreover, if you are using audio from someone’s property, it’s advisable to obtain a license to use the audio before merging it into your video. There are other options too – you can think of using buyout music also (it requires a one-time fee for unlimited use).

3. Stills and Images

Similar to the audio copyright laws there are rules of using other people’s stills or images as well. While using video clips or photos created by others, one must get permission from the owner as well as from others who have also contributed to the work.

However, it’s always recommended that one should create images and stills themselves to keep themselves out of any reputational risk.

4. Fair Use Video Clips

Amongst several video copyright laws, there is a provision of ‘Fair Use.’

What is fair use?

According to the concept of Fair use – a person can re-use any copyright-protected material under specific situations without the permission from the copyright owner. It’s interesting to note that different countries have a different set of guidelines for fair use.

In the United States, works of commentary, research, criticism, teaching or news reporting are considered fair use, whereas there are some other countries that have a similar idea called fair dealing that work in a separate scope.

Courts analyze potential fair uses depending on the facts of each specific case. However, the fair use concept is a little tricky because sometimes the copyright owner might disagree with the use and which eventually may lead to facing a lawsuit and consequent damages.

Are YouTube videos copyrighted?

To determine whether the use made of a work is fair use or not take a look at the following factors:

purpose and character of the use
nature of the copyrighted work
the amount used in relation to the copyrighted work and
the effect of the use upon the market or value of the copyrighted work.

5. Copyright Notice

One of the easiest ways to protect your videos from getting copied is putting up copyright notice- for example © Your Name (year). Through this notice, you can let the public know that you own a particular video. Remember to include the note close to the beginning of the video or at the end. Don’t forget to add this notice on DVD labels or packaging that contains your video.

6. Process of Registration

There are several laws to protect our YouTube videos. Put YouTube copyright disclaimer. According to the rule, the most useful step for protecting your video you need to register your final work in the U.S. Copyright Office (www.copyright.gov). This action of yours will prevent others from copying your valuable work without your permission. You will be satisfied to know that registration is a simple and relatively inexpensive process.

Although many countries don’t give much emphasis on copyright registration, yet there are other countries where you may register your copyright to document your ownership.

7. Content ID Match

Another significant step to prevent your videos from getting copied is to take the benefit of the content ID match system. This is a wonderful step by YouTube.

According to this, the giant video publishing platform automatically matches content that breaches copyright laws against the millions and millions of videos uploaded every month to the site.

The process is quite simple- copyright owners have to upload reference files (original versions of their work) to prove they own the rights.

Needless to say, content ID match eases the tension of any video creator because every new video uploaded to YouTube undergoes a checking process against their vast library of reference files, and if there is a match, YouTube automatically launches a YouTube copyright claim for the owner of the work.

Protect Your Videos

Copyright laws depend on several things, for example when the video was created, whether the video was published or not, what’s the date of first publication and what’s the creator’s time of death. Take the note that copyright protection lasts for your life and an additional 70 years. However, if the work is anonymous, the term is shorter of 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation. So, if you understand all the copyright laws mentioned above, it will be easier for you to implement those and protect your works. In addition to that, you can also avoid falling into the trap.

Create awesome videos with the help of animatedvideo.com and protect them from getting copied.

How to Protect Your Business from eCommerce Credit Card Fraud

Oct 7, 2020 | Online Marketing

Ecommerce is growing at an alarming rate. While there is nothing new to the concept of names like Amazon.com and Jet.com wiping out retail locations around the world and killing ‘mom and pop’ businesses, it should be noted that it’s not all bad for businesses owners. Instead of succumbing to the big name giants that dominated the world of ecommerce today, it’s actually become quite the level playing field and opportunity for anyone looking to create an online business of their own — especially with ecommerce and through the power of dropshipping.

However, there are many things an entrepreneur or marketer might need to consider when starting up their first online store. It’s not just about choosing the right products and knowing how to target to your audience, it’s also about using the right platform and always being sure your customer data is safe. Just as important, is making sure you know how to handle online payments and make sure credit card fraud isn’t a disaster lurking around the corner.

Just like most of us are already aware of how affiliate networks can get wiped out if one big advertiser doesn’t make a payment or goes belly up on payments owed, the same can be said of a credit disaster for an online store. It’s sad to say, but one good run of chargebacks against your ecommerce store could put you out of business. This is why preventing e-commerce credit card fraud is of paramount importance.

Adhering to the policies below will help you protect your business.

1. Maintain PCI Compliance

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is designed to ensure the safest possible environment for credit card data. The standard includes precautions such as changing factory default passwords on all network equipment and establishing a firewall between your Internet connection and any system that stores credit card numbers.

2. Implement Transaction Velocity Limits

Yes, this means you’ll be limiting your customers to a set dollar amount in purchases each day. (What merchant in their right mind would want to do that—right?) On the other hand, you’ll also minimize the potential take, should a fraudulent transaction make it past your safeguards. (What merchant in their right mind wouldn’t want to do that—right?)

3. Require Two-Factor Authentication

In most cases, when a thief gets a customer’s credit card information, they do not have the Card Verification Value (CVV) data. This three- or four-digit number, printed on the back of credit cards, is a secondary authentication method to prove a customer has the card in their possession. The PCI DSS prohibits storing this information alongside the credit card number and cardholder’s name. In fact, best practices recommend not storing it at all, but rather asking the customer to provide it with each transaction.

4. Monitor Transactions and Reconcile Them Every Day

The fastest way to spot fraud is to know what a typical day’s transactions look like. Reconciling your accounts on a daily basis trains you to spot anomalies. The sooner you notice something is amiss and take steps to do something about it, the better chance you have of apprehending the culprit. You’re looking for red flags such as mismatched billing and shipping information. Pay attention to the physical location of customers to ensure it matches the information provided too. Some online store hosting can help you in this regard by tracking orders automatically.

5. Use Tracking Numbers on All Shipments

You will occasionally run into less than scrupulous customers who will try to claim a chargeback on the grounds their products were never delivered. Tracking all packages and requiring signature confirmation on orders above a certain dollar amount will thwart these perpetrators.

6. Keep Software and Platforms up to Date

Make it a point to install software updates as soon as they become available. In most cases, they’re issued in response to an incident, or the discovery of a potential threat. Similarly, always keep your anti-malware and anti-spyware up to date. Given the nature of what you’re up against, only business-grade products will do for these tasks. The consumer stuff isn’t robust enough to adequately protect financial data.

7. Force Customers to Use Strong Passwords

Set requirements including numbers, letters (both lower- and upper-case), and special symbols for repeat customers who want to establish accounts. Do not permit the inclusion of any of their generally available information as part of the password.

8. Instill Employee Security Consciousnesses

Employee passwords should be just as strict (if not more so) as customers’ login information. Train them to spot potential fraud and empower them to stop a transaction if something feels amiss. Do everything possible to help them understand how fraud can cost them their livelihoods and how important their vigilance is for the health of the business.

9. Maintain a Gallery of Rogue Attacks

Keep a file of all attempted (and successful) breaches. Use these incidents as teachable moments, so your people can avoid falling victim to the same scam twice.

Preventing e-commerce credit card fraud is essential to protecting your business. There will always be people out there willing to work harder to steal than they would at a regular job. These tips will help you force them to move on to easier pickings.

It’s Not Just About Protecting Your Customers… It’s Also Your Business

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to put precautions in place to make sure your customers and eCommerce transactions are safe, but at the end of the day, you also need to remember this is your business and its reputation is on the line. The last thing you want is to lose the trust of your customers, and let word start to spread online about possible attacks or customer loss of data. These can be some of the most detrimental issues when trying to grow an eCommerce site on the internet today.

One of the best ways to get around many of these issues is to simply go with a trusted eCommerce platform that already has a payment platform, third-party security and customer management already in place.