Leveraging ADA compliance to broaden reach and Increase Sales
Passion. Partnership. Persistent Pursuit of Excellence. These driving forces are behind VB Cosmetics Inc.’s year-over-year triple-digit growth of their product line Dazzle Dry, record-breaking sales, national recognition, innovation awards, and expanding into their state-of-the-art 40,000 sq ft. facility in Chandler, Arizona. Founder Dr. Vivian Valenty’s vision of Dazzle Dry is to be recognized as the world’s most loved nail care brand, ensuring luxury beauty products are accessible to all.
The Challenge
VB Cosmetics (VBC) did not realize ensuring their luxury beauty products are accessible to all means their website is also compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“When we received a demand letter mostly focused on our writing a check, we were annoyed and in a bit of denial about being labeled as a violator of ADA compliance. How could this happen to us—we’re one of the good guys!” - Bob Acheson, CEO VB Cosmetics
Promotional launches, product updates, and website updates combined with social, paid search, and SMS campaigns make VBC highly vulnerable to ADA lawsuits. Over 50% of ADA lawsuits are against online retailers.
The Solution
Just like VBC is a pioneer in the nail lacquer industry with their fast-drying, durable, clean, and patented technology, AccessAbility Officer is a pioneer in digital accessibility with their Managed Service and training programs designed to help blind adults become employed.
When asking their counsel about the demand letter, Rebecca Weisenberg of WEISS & BROWN recommended VBC work with AccessAbility Officer (AAO). VBC wanted this problem resolved as soon as possible, but their design agency who built DazzleDry.com was not able to help. Digital accessibility has a tremendous learning curve, can only be accomplished with automated and manual testing, and requires over 50 success criteria to be tested per page.
“When we first saw the overall list of ADA violations, we took a deep breath. And then worked with Accessibility Officer staff to prioritize the issues from the most critical to nominal. Over several weeks, we eliminated all the severe items and were encouraged with our progress.” Bob Acheson
Results
While VBC ran business as usual, AAO’s Managed Service team tested DazzleDry.com for accessibility, fixed over 100 violations directly, and achieved ADA compliance in just 2 months!
The fastest way online retailers can remove their legal risk, frustration, and friction of ensuring ADA compliance is with AAO’s managed service. Today, AAO continues managing digital accessibility of DazzleDry.com for VBC, protecting their business from ADA demand letters and litigious threats.
“We are very happy knowing that we achieved compliance. Because we have elected to utilize the Managed Service, we have the comfort of knowing we won’t accidentally make a misstep.” – Bob Acheson, CEO VB Cosmetics