About Us
At Sumner M. Davenport & Assoc., we blend tech with heart, making websites natively accessible for everyone, including those with disabilities. With over 25 years in business, our team of professionals uses a mix of automated and manual testing, ensuring your digital space is inclusive, conformant and compliant. We're not just about code; we're about community, integrity, and making the web a better place for all.
YOUR WEBSITE NEEDS TO BE MORE THAN A PRETTY FACE
It needs to be:
Accessible to EVERYONE, including persons with disabilities.
We are a dedicated team of professionals and specialists committed to delivering top-notch native Accessible and Responsive Website Design solutions. Our mission is to enhance digital experiences for all users by ensuring websites are both user-friendly and inclusive.
Our Services:
1. Educational Workshops and Training:
o We provide comprehensive workshops to educate businesses on the critical importance of native web accessibility.
o We train web designers on best practices for creating native accessible websites from the ground up, ensuring they can build and maintain compliant sites for their clients.
2. Manual Testing and Ethical and Native Remediation:
o Our team conducts thorough manual testing to identify accessibility issues on websites.
o We offer expert native remediation services to fix these issues, ensuring compliance with accessibility standards and improving the overall user experience.
Why Accessibility Matters:
• Inclusive Access: Ensuring that everyone, including people with disabilities, can navigate and interact with your website.
• Legal Compliance: Adhering to accessibility laws and regulations, local and international, to avoid legal repercussions.
• Enhanced User Experience: Creating a seamless and enjoyable experience for all users, leading to higher engagement and customer satisfaction.
Our Commitment:
We are passionate about making the web a more natively inclusive place. By partnering with us, businesses not only improve their digital presence but also demonstrate a commitment to social responsibility and inclusivity.
Let’s work together to make the web accessible to everyone!
How We Got Started
After several years of designing websites, I had a profound realization: the websites I created were inadvertently creating barriers for people with disabilities. This humbling experience ignited a mission within me to transform how websites are designed. I dedicated myself to learning how to create ethically designed, natively inclusive websites. This journey led to the birth of my business, driven by a commitment to not only design accessible websites but also to educate others on this crucial aspect of web development.
We have been actively involved in web design for over 25 years and have specialized in Inclusive, Accessible Design and Native Web Accessibility for over past 13 years.
We are called upon to consult and educate at business and legal conferences and Forums.
Our team consists of specialists in various areas of Web Design and Native Accessibility, and our team members are persons with various abilities and disabilities.
The products and services we offer
Recommendations Received (7)
"Sumner is fantastic at what she does and has a great team in place. She always is current on the..."
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"Sumner is fantastic at what she does and has a great team in place. She always is current on the latest changes and trends, anticipates your needs before you know you need them, and provides outstanding support. Could not recommend her higher!"
"Sumner knows her business! I've known her about 3 years and have consulted w/her several times on..."
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"Sumner knows her business! I've known her about 3 years and have consulted w/her several times on how to protect the reputation of my professional clients."
Products & Services
With the increases in very costly lawsuits against business owners for their websites not being Accessible, it has become essential to make sure yo...
Your brand and your reputation exists in every place a customer looks for it, not just your website. More than just being on the internet.
Wor...
It's not your client who will cause you grief, it's the internet trolls looking for websites that are not in compliance with Federal, State & Indus...
Recommendations Given (5)
"Vivian take time with her clients and treats them with compassion and respect. She goes above and..."
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"Vivian take time with her clients and treats them with compassion and respect. She goes above and beyond in getting the best result for her clients."
"Very professional. Focused on the best results for his clients. Respected by his peers."
Recent Activity
We never closed. With so many businesses suddenly forced to be online, it has become glaringly obvious how may websites are not Accessible to persons with diff-abilities. Some businesses immediately saw the loss of potential business and others were suddenly faced with potential lawsuits and...
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We never closed. With so many businesses suddenly forced to be online, it has become glaringly obvious how may websites are not Accessible to persons with diff-abilities. Some businesses immediately saw the loss of potential business and others were suddenly faced with potential lawsuits and damage to their brand, and they all needed solutions. My company educates on Web Accessibility and trains DIYers and web-designers how to do it correctly. There is a lot of misinformation being circulated and worse, there are companies motivating by fear and promoting and/or selling a magic-wand fix. Both of these avenues have landed businesses in deeper trouble. Our goal is to educate and provide resources, many which are free, that can help a business remediate their existing website. An Accessible website not only allows for greater sales potential,
it boosts the brand of the company and it is essential for food businesses taking delivery orders.
The impact of the virus has caused my business to increase. I’ve had to hire more people.
So many businesses have been lax in their digital presence for both employees and customers, that now that everyone is working from home the problems have become obvious. Disabled workers aren’t able to...
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The impact of the virus has caused my business to increase. I’ve had to hire more people.
So many businesses have been lax in their digital presence for both employees and customers, that now that everyone is working from home the problems have become obvious. Disabled workers aren’t able to access company websites, and customers can’t access the websites for the products and services they seek. The bounce rate on websites is very high. Non-disabled users are facing some of the difficulties with websites that disabled users have been talking about for decades. Hopefully, as website owners experience the difficulty in navigation on a website, difficulty in finding what they are looking for, facing the difficulty of checking out or filling in a form, or the difficulty in finding the contact information, they will personally understand a small amount of what a disabled person faces every day on the internet. And on their own websites when they are not Accessible.
Business value: The purchasing power of persons with disabilities is over a TRILLION dollars.
Legal issues for website not Accessible: The courts may be physically closed but are accepting e-filing for cases, so the internet trolls are still very active in targeting websites that are not accessible to the disabled. I have been talking about the business case for Accessibility for years and now I’m being flooded with panic requests for a quick fix. There are no quick fixes only quick steps to start and ongoing steps to remediate.
Remediation: A capable web designer or dedicated do-it-yourselfer can do it.
Depends on what you mean by “beautifully presented”
Email campaigns, just like any other marketing campaign need to be more than just a pretty face. Know your clients and know your niche market so well that what you present to them is valuable to THEM.
Unless you are e-Commerce, don’t SELL....
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Depends on what you mean by “beautifully presented”
Email campaigns, just like any other marketing campaign need to be more than just a pretty face. Know your clients and know your niche market so well that what you present to them is valuable to THEM.
Unless you are e-Commerce, don’t SELL. Even then, know how to speak to your customer to motivate them to want to buy.
Too many people present their marketing in a way that appeals to them, but then it misses the mark with clients, potential clients and potential referrals.
We’ve been using email campaigns for years as part of our overall marketing strategy. The design and presentation changes with our industry changes, client feedback and current goals.
1 Reply
I am a specialist in Web Accessibility and I do in-person presentation at events nationally, and a few internationally. Many times I am speaking side by side with attorneys who are defending these cases. They educate on the WHY and I educate on the HOW to stay out of the legal crosshairs, and...
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I am a specialist in Web Accessibility and I do in-person presentation at events nationally, and a few internationally. Many times I am speaking side by side with attorneys who are defending these cases. They educate on the WHY and I educate on the HOW to stay out of the legal crosshairs, and make your web presence Accessible to all persons, and at the same time, more robust and SEO friendly . Most of the events where I am invited to speak have the events start on Friday and run through the weekend, both daytime and evening. That schedule offers people the opportunity to make time for what they want to hear/learn. I also conduct webinars via Zoom in the morning before the workday starts, so it can be attended by people across the US at a time before they get involved in their business day. Evening webinars are the least attended because people are done with their day and are tired. Regardless of the time an event is presented, people who find it important or valuable to them will make the time. Those that don't make the time, don't find it as valuable to them.
Separate yourself from the competition by doing something they are not. You will receive a lot of advice from people who focus only on your website - SEO, content, keywords, etc. when that is what your competition is probably doing. Questions: > How are you unique? What do you offer that your...
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Separate yourself from the competition by doing something they are not. You will receive a lot of advice from people who focus only on your website - SEO, content, keywords, etc. when that is what your competition is probably doing. Questions: > How are you unique? What do you offer that your competition does not? > Do you know your specific customer? > Is your content written for them? > How often do you update your website with content specifically for your target market? > Where does your target market hang out? You should be where they are - online and offline. > What are you doing to marketing your website? > Are you in industry or target market directories? > How are you measuring the results and success of your marketing efforts? Just having traffic to your website doesn't mean anything if it's not getting results. Relying only on your website to do your work for you, will deliver limited (if any) results unless you are paying in time and/or money to go after your target market and attract them to you. Wishing you success.
My number one source of leads are referrals from current clients.
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My number one source of leads are referrals from current clients.
Know your audience.
Make it Accessible with properly timed, full captions.
Have a plan and a goal in your design and development.
Deliver a solution not a sales pitch.
Have a clear call to action.
Use focus group or unbiased evaluators (not friends, family or coworkers) to report if the finished...
(more)
Know your audience.
Make it Accessible with properly timed, full captions.
Have a plan and a goal in your design and development.
Deliver a solution not a sales pitch.
Have a clear call to action.
Use focus group or unbiased evaluators (not friends, family or coworkers) to report if the finished product effectively delivered a solution to a need and motivated a call to action.
You may get recommendations to post on social media, run ads, join groups….. however, none of that will help you get new customers if you are targeting in the wrong direction. And there is no magic tool.
Ask yourself questions:
1. Who EXACTLY are your niche market?
2. Why do they NEED your...
(more)
You may get recommendations to post on social media, run ads, join groups….. however, none of that will help you get new customers if you are targeting in the wrong direction. And there is no magic tool.
Ask yourself questions:
1. Who EXACTLY are your niche market?
2. Why do they NEED your product?
3. Do they know they need it, or do they need to be educated?
4. How does your product/service solve their NEED?
5. What makes you unique from someone else offering the same product/service? How can you support that claim?
Then, where does this target customer hang out? You need to be everywhere they are – digital, print, in person.
Your marketing message and approach should be composed from the answers to questions 2-5.
The more you know your niche market, the easier it is to reach them.
Know your niche and their needs;
Be customer/client focused - know how your product/services meets that need (not just everyone needs my product) and
Be willing to listen first without selling. Listen for the problem that you can solve.
Know why that client/customer should work with you - what...
(more)
Know your niche and their needs;
Be customer/client focused - know how your product/services meets that need (not just everyone needs my product) and
Be willing to listen first without selling. Listen for the problem that you can solve.
Know why that client/customer should work with you - what makes you unique (more than just your product/services).
Don't sell - provide solutions. Network everywhere you prospects are - online and offline. Have something ready for them (brochures, link to a specific page on your website) that include the reasons your product/service is best and what you do for them. Create a tag line that you can be remembered for and put that everywhere you are - online and offline, including your brochures and business cards.
Many people fail to read the T&C for using a free site such as gmail, Google search, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter... and others, which outlines that they use data mining and tracking for their marketing purposes and by using these free services you are opting-in. Certain apps on your phone are...
(more)
Many people fail to read the T&C for using a free site such as gmail, Google search, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter... and others, which outlines that they use data mining and tracking for their marketing purposes and by using these free services you are opting-in. Certain apps on your phone are tracking you and recording you even when you think they are off.
In some professional fields, ie: lawyers and financial, their industry regulations strongly advise not to use any free platform for conducting business with a client.
At the same time your credit card company, the consumer card you use at the grocery, your cell phone carrier, cable provider and other services you pay for, also have data retention and sharing clauses in their contracts. Some of the sharing you can opt-out, but most you cannot.
The bottom line is to determine how much of your information you want shared and make your choice of which companies, apps and services to use that you believe will maintain that level of privacy for you.
