Website Design in Atlanta: Scope and Hiring Guide

Define the customer task and its acceptance test

Give the designer a customer journey to quote: finding opening hours, requesting an estimate, booking an appointment, or purchasing a product. Describe what the visitor submits and what your staff should receive. For booking work, include changes and cancellations. For a store, name the person responsible for products, fulfillment, and refunds.

DOJ identifies inaccessible forms and mouse-only navigation as website barriers. Its business guidance recommends labels, clear instructions, error messages, and keyboard access. Include those features in the brief for your inquiry, booking, or checkout journey, and ask the designer to demonstrate the complete task before acceptance. [3]

Prepare a page list and assign a content owner to each page. Mark which copy and photographs you already have and which you want the designer to create. Ask for named deliverables, revision limits, content-entry responsibilities, and training. Give your preferred launch date and ask the provider to identify dependencies before committing to it.

Put Georgia checkout requirements into the quote

Georgia DOR says the delivery county determines the sales-tax rate in most instances. Delivery within the City of Atlanta generally adds city sales tax to state and county taxes. Have your accountant define the expected treatment, then ask the designer to demonstrate checkout calculations using verified delivery addresses. [2]

Georgia DOR also says delivery, shipping, freight, and handling charges follow the underlying sale's tax treatment. Delivery charges unrelated to taxable property sales are not taxable under this guidance. Include product categories and delivery charges in the test cases your accountant approves, rather than leaving shipping-tax setup outside the quote. [1]

Georgia DOR's general sales-tax guidance describes taxation of property and selected services; it does not give a website-design invoice ruling. Ask the provider to itemize design work, subscriptions, and other purchases. Have your accountant resolve the treatment of your transaction and supply the tax decisions the designer must implement. [1]

Choose a designer who can explain accessibility work

DOJ says the ADA's requirements apply to goods and services that businesses open to the public offer online. Its business website guidance identifies poor contrast, missing image descriptions, inaccessible forms, and mouse-only navigation as barriers. Ask prospective designers how they would address those features in your site's main customer task. [3]

Request a demonstration of keyboard navigation and form-error handling on a relevant portfolio project. Ask the designer to explain their contribution, the testing they performed, and the defects they corrected. DOJ recommends pairing manual checks with automated tools; require a testing plan that describes both and identifies who will fix the findings. [3]

Agree on the technical standard, pages, and customer journeys the designer will test. Request a way for visitors to report accessibility problems, which DOJ includes among its recommended practices. Seek legal advice about your business's obligations; keep the designer's commitments tied to defined work and documented results. [3]

Compare total scope and protect account ownership

Separate the build price from hosting, subscriptions, maintenance, and future edits. Request separate prices for optional features and ask each designer to name exclusions. Compare the page list, content work, integrations, revisions, and acceptance tests before judging the total.

During an editor demonstration, try changing an opening hour, photograph, or product description. Decide whether your staff could repeat that task. Ask who will own the domain account, hold administrator access, and manage renewals. Put transfer rights, design-asset handover, cancellation terms, and payment milestones in writing.

Approve launch through customer and staff tests

DOJ's business guidance recommends reviewing headings, browser zoom, contrast, image descriptions, keyboard access, and forms. It warns that a clean automated report does not mean everything is accessible. Ask the designer to demonstrate the agreed manual checks on the finished customer journey and document unresolved barriers before you approve launch. [3]

On your phone and a desktop, submit an inquiry, make a booking, or place a test order. Confirm that staff receive the expected information. For a redesign, give the designer existing page addresses and request a destination for each page that moves. Agree on a launch window, a rollback decision-maker, and a support contact.

At handover, collect account access, renewal details, editing instructions, and agreed assets. Request a demonstration of backups and recovery. Keep defects in a shared list with an owner and completion date, then assess the final payment milestone against your written deliverables.

Georgia DOR illustration: merchandise and taxable amount with delivery

Choose the scope to request

Your hiring checklist

1. Write the main customer journey and required page list.
2. Assign responsibility for copy, photographs, products, and approvals.
3. Request separate build, subscription, maintenance, and optional-feature prices.
4. Obtain accountant-approved checkout tests for delivery jurisdictions and shipping charges.
5. Agree on manual accessibility checks, automated testing, and correction responsibilities.
6. Record domain ownership, administrator access, transfer rights, and payment milestones.
7. Test customer submissions and staff notifications before launch approval.
8. Collect editing instructions, renewals, recovery procedures, assets, and support terms.

Frequently Asked Questions

How should I compare website design quotes?

Send each designer the same brief. Compare pages, content work, integrations, revisions, testing, training, and handover. Separate the build from recurring charges, and request exclusions and optional prices before selecting a proposal.

Can my store use one tax rate for all Atlanta customers?

Have your accountant check the delivery jurisdictions before approving that setup. Georgia generally uses the delivery county, and delivery within the City of Atlanta generally adds city sales tax. Ask the designer to demonstrate the address-based calculations your accountant specifies. [2]

Does an accessibility scan establish that my website is accessible?

DOJ cautions that a clean automated report does not mean everything is accessible. Require manual checks alongside automated testing, including keyboard navigation and the forms customers need to complete your main business task. [3]

What should I receive at handover?

Request administrator access, domain and subscription details, agreed design assets, editing instructions, and support terms. Ask the designer to demonstrate routine updates and the agreed recovery process. Check those deliverables against the final payment milestone.