Summary
I will always do my best to fulfill your needs and meet your expectations, but it is important to have things written down so that we both know what’s what, who should do what and when, and what will happen if something goes wrong.
In Short
You, my client (“You”), by signing up for this subscription on www.creativeak.com, are hiring me, CreativeAK, (“I” or “me”), to:
- Design and develop your website, and/or
- Manage and maintain your website, and/or
- Manage and consult on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your company
For the price shown on the sign-up page and as outlined in our previous correspondence.
Of course, it’s a little more complicated, but we’ll get to that.
What do both parties agree to?
You: You have the authority to enter into this contract on behalf of yourself, your company or your organization. You will give me the assets and information I tell you I need to complete the project. You will do this when I ask and provide it in the formats I ask for. You will review my work, provide feedback and approval in a timely manner. Deadlines work two ways, so you will also be bound by dates we set together. You also agree to stick to the payment schedule set out at the end of this contract.
Me: I have the experience and ability to do everything I have agreed with you and I will do it all in a professional and timely manner. I will endeavor to meet every deadline that is set, and on top of that
Getting Down to the Nitty Gritty
Design
I create look-and-feel designs, and flexible layouts that adapt to the capabilities of many devices and screen sizes. I create designs iteratively and use predominantly HTML and CSS, which means I won’t waste time mocking up every template as a static visual. I may use visuals to indicate a creative direction (color, texture and typography).
You will have plenty of opportunities to review my work and provide feedback. I will share a development site with you and we will have regular, possibly daily contact.
If, at any stage, you change your mind about what you want to be delivered and are not happy with the direction my work is taking, you will pay me in full for the time I have spent working with you until that point. At this juncture, we can either work on a solution or we can terminate this contract.
Text Content
Unless agreed separately, I am not responsible for creating text or images to put into your website. You will provide the text and images that you want
Graphics and Photographs
You should supply
HTML, CSS and JavaScript
I deliver web page types developed from HTML markup, CSS stylesheets for styling and unobtrusive JavaScript for feature detection,
Hosting
If previously agreed to I will provide hosting for your website on my preferred hosting provider, WP Engine. Based on their SLA they endeavor to have 99.95% uptime on their servers measured annually.
There may, of course, be times when the server will not be available, this can be scheduled or unscheduled. Scheduled downtime is when I know it is going to happen and tell you about it in advance. Scheduled downtime will wherever possible, almost certainly be outside of normal office hours. I will do my work in the evening or on weekend to minimize the impact
There may be very rare occasions when the server needs to be restarted during normal office hours and it is not possible to inform you beforehand. These decisions are not made lightly and if this does happen I apologize.
Unscheduled downtime is when the server stops without me knowing it is going to stop. For a simple server hiccup, it will be back up and running as fast as possible. From time to time things go wrong with hardware; in the event something does occur, be assured, WPEngine will endeavor to fix the issue as soon as possible.
I will do everything I can to ensure that your website is available 99% of the time. If I fall short of this, I will come and talk to you about it.
Site Build – Search Engine Optimization
I cannot guarantee any improvement to a search engine ranking, nor can I promise to get a site higher up or to the ‘top of Google’. That being said, I build every site in a way that is accessible to search engines with best practices in mind in an effort to increase its chances. There are certain best practices and industry standards which are recommended to help sites rank on the various search engines throughout the internet. If we have previously agreed, I will help you implement these best practices through consulting, contracted services, and my own work. That being said, some of these best practices will require work on your part. If I give you direction and you do not follow it the likelihood that you will see increased rankings will be reduced.
Browser Testing
Browser testing no longer means attempting to make a website look the same in browsers of different capabilities or on devices with different size screens. It does mean ensuring that a person’s experience of a design should be appropriate to the capabilities of a browser or device.
I test my work in current versions of major desktop browsers including those made by Apple (Safari), Google (Chrome), Microsoft (Edge), and Mozilla Firefox and Opera. I will also test to ensure that people who use Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 for Windows get an appropriate experience. I will not test in other older browsers unless we agreed separately. If you need an enhanced design for an older browser, I can provide a separate estimate for that.
Mobile Browser Testing
Testing using popular smaller screen devices is essential in ensuring that a person’s experience of a design is appropriate to the capabilities of the device they’re using. I test my designs in:
iOS 10: Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox
Android: Google Chrome
I won’t test in Blackberry, Opera Mini/Mobile, specific Android devices, Windows or other mobile browsers unless we agreed separately. If you need me to test using these, I can provide a separate estimate for that.
Technical Support
I am not a website or email hosting company. I partner with other companies to provide you with services such as website hosting, email or other services relating to hosting. If previously agreed I will help you navigate these services, including contacting their support to work out any potential issues. That being said, if a partner company has a technical issue with their service I cannot be expected to resolve that issue or held accountable for the issue.
Changes and Revisions
I do not want to limit your ability to change your mind. The price at the beginning of this contract is based on the number of weeks that I estimate I will need to accomplish everything you have told me you want to achieve, but I am happy to be flexible. If you want to change your mind or add anything new, that will not be a problem. I will provide a separate estimate for those additional weeks.
Legal Stuff
I will carry out my work in accordance with good industry practice and at the standard expected from a suitably qualified person with relevant experience.
That said, I can’t guarantee that my work will be error-free and so I cannot be liable to you or any third-party for damages, including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental, consequential or special damages, even if you’ve advised me of them.
Your liability to me will also be limited to the amount of fees payable under this contract and you won’t be liable to me or any third-party for damages, including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental, consequential or special damages, even if I have advised you of them.
Finally, if any provision of this contract shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this contract and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
Phew.
Intellectual Property Rights
Just to be clear, “intellectual property rights” means all patents, rights to inventions, copyright (including rights in software) and related rights, trademarks, service marks, get up and trade names, internet domain names, rights to goodwill or to sue for passing off, rights in designs, database rights, rights in confidential information (including know-how) and any other intellectual property rights, in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications (or rights to apply) for, and renewals or extensions of, such rights and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection which subsist or shall subsist now or in the future in any part of the world.
Blimey.
First, you guarantee that all elements of text, images or other artwork you provide are either owned by you, or you have permission to use them. When you provide text, images or other artwork to me, you agree to protect me from any claim by a third party that I am using their intellectual property.
I guarantee that all elements of the work I deliver to you are either owned by me or I have obtained permission to provide them to you. When I provide text, images or other artwork to you, I agree to protect you from any claim by a third party that you are using their intellectual property. Provided you have paid for the work and that this contract has not been terminated, I will assign all intellectual property rights to you as follows:
You will own the website I design for you plus the visual elements that I create for it. At your request, I will give you source files and finished files. You own all intellectual property rights of text, images, site specification and data you provided, unless someone else owns them.
I will own any intellectual property rights I have developed prior to, or developed separately from this project and not paid for by you. I will own the unique combination of these elements that constitutes a complete design and I will license its use to you, exclusively and in perpetuity for this project only, unless we agree otherwise.
Displaying Our Work
I like to show off my work, so I reserve the right to display all aspects of our creative work, including sketches, work-in-progress designs and the completed project on my portfolio and in articles on websites, in magazine articles and in books.
Payment Schedule
I am sure you understand how important it is as a small business that payments are made promptly. As such, you agree to the following payment schedule:
As a Subscriber, you agree to the payment terms presented to you at the time you sign up for the services on www.creativeak.com. In exchange for the services, you are signing up for you agree to pay the amount listed on the sign-up page until
I offer an automated online payment system. This system will automatically charge your debit or credit card once monthly on the day of the month that you sign up for your subscription on www.creativeak.com. Please reach out to me if you would like to customize the day of the month your payment is made, and I will gladly do this for you.
I reserve the right to charge interest on all overdue debts at the rate of 5% per month or part of a month.
But where’s all the horrible small print?
Just like a parking ticket, neither of us can transfer this contract to anyone else without the other’s permission.
We both agree that we will adhere to all relevant laws and regulations in relation to our activities under this contract and not cause the other to breach any relevant laws or regulations.
This contract stays in place and need not be renewed. If for some reason one part of this contract becomes invalid or unenforceable, the remaining parts of it remain in place.
This contract is a legal document under exclusive jurisdiction of United States courts.
The Dotted Line
By signing up and creating a payment account on www.creativeak.com you agree to everything stated above.
These Terms and Conditions were last updated on August 25, 2018.