We received an inquiry from a matchmaker who was interested in web accessibility after a recommendation from the developer who built her website.
Right at the start of the call, we asked her with a smile: "Maybe you're actually entitled to an exemption — and then we can save you this entire conversation?" You could hear the smile in her voice as she immediately said: "That would be amazing, fingers crossed!"
From there, we moved on to check whether she met the criteria for an exemption from website accessibility requirements.
The questions we asked her:
Has your business been operating for more than 3 years?
Without getting into the exact figures — have your annual revenues been below 100,000 NIS in each of the past three years?
She answered yes to both questions. From there, granting the exemption was straightforward. We explained that she is exempt from website accessibility compliance! All she needs to do is ask her developer to add an accessibility statement indicating that she is exempt due to economic hardship.
And here we want to emphasize just how important and meaningful an accessibility statement really is. You are making a declaration to your visitors — acknowledging the issue, even when you are not legally required to address it. In this way, an accessibility statement provides real protection and can significantly reduce your website's exposure to legal claims (though this should not be taken as definitive legal advice, as every case is assessed on its own merits).
The Outcome
There was, of course, a lot of joy and relief. The client hadn't expected to hear that kind of answer, and she praised us for our honesty. On our end, we were genuinely happy to be of service — who knows, maybe her business will grow and she'll come back to us down the line. We'd be glad to be here for her when that time comes.
And naturally, before we wrapped up, we asked her that if she knows any businesses that do need accessibility services — we'd love a referral! You can probably guess how she responded 😊.
For us, accessibility comes from a genuine desire to help our clients. We're not here just to sell a service.