There has been a great deal of buzz in recent weeks regarding websites and their compliance with standards set forth under Title 2 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Under some legal interpretations, the Internet and websites are considered “places of public accommodation” due to the way in which they are accessed. With no actual regulations in place, highly confusing recommendations have been put forward by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the international standards organization that develops protocols and guidelines for the Internet. Its Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has developed a set of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the most recent version being WCAG 2.1, released in June 2018.

The guidelines are broken down into three levels: A, AA, and AAA, where “A” is the most basic and “AAA” is the most extreme. Meeting “AAA” standards would be prohibitively costly and would severely impede the online marketing efforts of most businesses. On the other hand, most websites are already in compliance with the “A” standards. In the event of a legal challenge, it is widely believed that a small business that shows a good faith effort at providing “reasonable accessibilities” on its website would prevail in its defense. This appears to translate into an attempt to meet as many “AA” standards as practical.

Although we do not pretend to be attorneys – and any website may be challenged as non-compliant, particularly with respect to the “AAA” standards, we have taken the initiative of evaluating the standards in an attempt to identify the most practical measures that will deem our clients’ websites to be reasonably compliant with “AA” standards. Behind the scenes, we have implemented server-wide changes and have been testing, evaluating, and updating individual websites as deemed necessary. We understand that there are some industry associations that have taken a more extreme approach that borders on being in panic mode; however, we would like to think we are taking a thoughtful and measured approach that serves the best interests of our clients.

In an article that was originally written for Peter Pelland’s monthly column in the February 2019 issue of Woodall’s Campground Management, this topic was covered in greater detail. This article was later distributed rather widely by National ARVC and various state campground associations. You may read it in its entirety on our blog: https://blog.pelland.com/2019/02/10/ada-compliance-and-your-website/

You can read the latest articles before they appear on the Pelland Advertising blog if you look for the “Smart Operations” column in every issue of Woodall’s Campground Management. If you own a North American campground, the publication should be delivered to your mailbox each month. If, by chance, you are not on the subscription list, click here to visit the WCM website, then choose “Subscribe For Free” and “Print edition of our magazine”.

If you operate a campground in the Northeastern United States, be sure to mark your calendar to attend the 55th Annual NCA Conference on Camping & Trade Show, to be held March 14-17, 2019 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel / Boston North Shore. When you are there, simply stop by the Pelland Advertising booth in the trade show hall and you will be entitled to receive 1,000 free four-color business cards. Free design, free printing, and free shipping. No catches, and no strings attached.

In addition to this special offer, one of Pelland Advertising’s donations to the NCA’s fundraising auction is a day of on-location photography, with all expenses included, for the winning bidder representing any member campground from Northern Maine to Southern Maryland. You may have attended one of Peter Pelland’s many popular photography seminars that have been presented over the years – most recently at the spring meeting of the Colorado Campground & Lodging Owners Association, in Colorado Springs, this week. (If you operate a Colorado campground or RV park, there is still time to register and attend!)

As you may know, Peter Pelland was perhaps the premiere campground industry photographer for over two decades, until retiring from on-location photography assignments a decade ago. Your auction bid will represent a one-time opportunity to be the beneficiary of the one day – and one day only – when those skills will be brought back into play.

We have launched countless new websites since our last newsletter, many of which were projects for new clients who came to us after growing dissatisfied with their previous Internet services providers, while others were new sites for long-time clients. Our sites include many of the leading family campgrounds from throughout North America, but we also have many small business clients from other industries. Each site represents a custom-crafted, mobile-friendly, responsive site that was built with the unique challenges of each client in mind. If you feel that your website is being neglected by another company, this is the perfect time to turn to Pelland Advertising for a refreshing change in attitude! Click on any image to visit that client’s new website, or click here to visit the website portfolio page on the Pelland Advertising website.

Castle Gate RV Park
Helper, Utah
A new park, scheduled to open in April 2019, Castle Gate RV Park
turned to Pelland Advertising for its new website, site maps, and more.

Sandbanks River Country Campground
Picton, Ontario
Our work including new site maps
and rack cards in both English and French.

Harrison Cart Works
Gambrills, Maryland
A new e-commerce website running on the Magento platform.
Our work also included logo design, ad production, and counter display graphics.

Like what you see? Click here to watch our YouTube video to learn more about responsive website development from Pelland Advertising, then contact us for a quote or to be added to our production list. We could have your new site up and running – and generating new business – prior to the height of the 2019 season! We make the process easy, particularly if you need to move from another hosting services provider, offering a long list of incentives.

Everybody knows that we build responsive websites and produce brochures, rack cards, and site maps, but few people realize that we also produce an even wider range of printed materials, including large formats and materials other than paper. The following list represents a few of the items that we frequently produce … and typically at some extremely competitive prices. Let us quote on your next out-of-the-ordinary project!

Labels • Letterhead • Envelopes • NCR Forms • Magnets • Banners • Floor Graphics
Presentation Boards • Plastic Signs • Yard Signs
Truck Magnets & Decals • Mirror Hangers • Greeting Cards

We also provide assistance with mailing services for many of our clients. Do you realize how much money you can save by outsourcing your mailings? Postage rates are lower with pre-sorting, and you can save hundreds of dollars when your mailing list is processed to remove duplicates and then run through the national change of address registry. No more wasting postage and printing costs as the result of mailing literature to people who have moved or who are deceased. Contact us for more information.

Our latest advertising campaign is based upon the theme of “How our newest clients feel after making the switch”, featuring testimonials that relate their experiences in working with Pelland Advertising, mirroring what our long-time clients have known all along. Some folks have commented how easy we were to work with, others express how they did not realize how they had been neglected by a former supplier until they experienced a new standard in service, and others yet voice their satisfaction with our accessibility and availability even on evenings, weekends, and holidays. The following was the first ad in this series, a testimonail from Sue Wendlandt, the owner of Sandy Hill Family Camp in Quantico, Maryland. If you would like to be featured in one of our upcoming ads, we would welcome your comments!

That’s it for this edition of the Pelland Advertising newsletter. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy day to read it. Feel free to share our newsletter with your colleagues and to contact us with suggestions for future content. We are always here to listen … and to be of assistance. Thanks!