Website Design in Columbia, SC: Hiring and Launch

Define customer tasks and accessibility in the scope

Describe what a customer should complete and what your staff should receive. For a service business, specify the information customers need before requesting a quote and where the request should go. For a shop, identify products, pickup or shipping choices, and who will maintain the catalog. Turn those decisions into a launch page list and required features.

DOJ’s guidance for businesses open to the public identifies inaccessible forms and mouse-only navigation as website barriers. It describes form labels, clear instructions, error indicators, and keyboard access as accessibility practices. Use that guidance to specify how customers should complete your inquiry, booking, or checkout process. [3]

Ask each bidder to demonstrate the proposed customer journey using a keyboard and show how a customer would correct a form error. Put the agreed checks in the scope, with responsibility for fixing issues. Treat the demonstration as a hiring and acceptance step rather than a promise of legal compliance.

Assign responsibility for copy, photographs, product descriptions, and policy text before agreeing to a schedule. Separate launch requirements from later additions. Record content delivery dates, revision rounds, and the person who approves the work. Have bidders explain exclusions against this same brief.

Compare costs and plan a usable handover

Request separate charges for design, content preparation, migration, integrations, and training. List hosting, domain renewal, software subscriptions, maintenance, and paid edits apart from the build price. Require written approval for additions so you can decide whether to expand the scope or postpone a feature.

Arrange for your business to control the domain, hosting, store, payment, and analytics accounts. Document the designer’s access and how you will remove or change it after handover. State who owns the finished design, copy, and custom code, and identify assets or software with separate license terms.

DOJ recommends short, descriptive image alternatives and headings that assist screen-reader navigation. It also recommends giving the public a way to report accessibility problems. Include these practices in handover training: ask your staff to add an image alternative, preserve heading structure during an edit, and locate the customer issue-reporting route. [3]

Have the staff member responsible for updates complete a routine edit before accepting handover. Assign someone to review reported problems and agree on the designer’s correction and support charges. For a redesign, approve a page inventory, migration plan, redirects for changed addresses, backup, and recovery procedure before replacing the existing site.

Resolve provider and merchant licensing

The City of Columbia says its business-license requirement covers people conducting or intending to conduct business, an occupation, or a profession in whole or in part within city limits. It also says workers receiving a 1099 instead of payroll wages with tax deductions count as self-employed and need a business license. Discuss the provider’s licensing status for the proposed work. [1]

Columbia says a business license applies within the issuing jurisdiction and advises businesses physically working elsewhere to check that jurisdiction’s requirements. Describe where the designer will perform the work when clarifying licensing. Assess design ability through work samples, a customer-task demonstration, and the written proposal. [1]

South Carolina requires retailers to obtain a Retail License before making sales taxed under Sales and Use Tax, including internet sales. SCDOR lists a $50 non-refundable fee. Confirm the requirements for your products with SCDOR or your accountant before approving live checkout. Assign checkout tax configuration and test transactions as separate project responsibilities. [2]

Test the customer journey before authorizing launch

DOJ states that ADA requirements apply to the goods and services public accommodations offer on the web. Its business guidance identifies poor contrast, missing image alternatives, inaccessible forms, and mouse-only navigation as barriers. Include those areas in the acceptance plan alongside your business tasks. [3]

DOJ recommends pairing manual accessibility checks with automated tools and cautions that a clean automated report does not mean everything is accessible. Ask the designer to document checks of keyboard navigation, form labels and errors, text zoom, contrast, and image alternatives, plus unresolved issues and proposed corrections. [3]

Complete the customer journey and staff handover before authorizing launch. Submit an inquiry and confirm receipt, complete a test purchase if relevant, and make a routine content update. Record defects and assign corrections. Name the person who approves launch and the staff member who checks incoming messages or orders afterward.

South Carolina seller license fees relevant to an online launch

Match the scope to your business task

Your hiring checklist

1. 1. Define the customer action, launch pages, required features, and accessibility checks before requesting quotes.
2. 2. Assign content delivery and approval responsibilities, then give each bidder the same brief.
3. 3. Compare itemized build and recurring charges; select a provider and clarify licensing for the proposed work locations.
4. 4. Before work starts, document account control, ownership, revision limits, handover, and support terms.
5. 5. Before approving live checkout, confirm applicable merchant licensing with SCDOR or your accountant and assign payment and tax configuration.
6. 6. Once content and configuration are ready, complete customer-task tests and manual and automated accessibility checks.
7. 7. After recording test results, assign corrections and have the responsible staff member complete handover training.
8. 8. Authorize launch after reviewing corrections and handover; assign staff to monitor messages, orders, and reported problems.

Frequently Asked Questions

How should I set a website budget?

Obtain itemized quotes for the same page list and features. Compare build charges, content work, migration, subscriptions, and support. Ask bidders to identify exclusions and assumptions that could change the total, then decide which additions can wait.

Does a service website need a Retail License?

SCDOR says a service provider does not need a Retail License if the service is not one of the specifically taxed services under Sales and Use Tax. Confirm the treatment of your actual offering before adding paid bookings or product checkout. [2]

Can an automated checker establish accessibility?

DOJ cautions that a clean automated report does not mean everything is accessible. Include manual checks in acceptance testing and ask the designer to document unresolved barriers and planned corrections. [3]

How should I agree on a launch date?

Schedule content delivery, design approval, configuration, testing, and handover as milestones with owners and approval conditions. For taxable online retail sales, include the applicable Retail License step before live checkout. Agree on how missed content or approval deadlines affect the schedule. [2]