Legal
Our Compliance Practices
The rules we work inside, on our own site and in the campaigns we run for clients. Compliance is cheaper than a complaint, and far cheaper than a suspended ad account.
Call (714) 823-3164 or ask a question. Clear recommendations, even if we never work together.
Online Website Marketing works to meet ADA and WCAG 2.2 Level AA accessibility standards, CAN-SPAM rules for commercial email, TCPA rules for calls and texts, and the advertising policies of Google and Meta. We also apply written data processing terms with every vendor that touches client information.
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This compliance page is a draft prepared for internal review. It has not been reviewed by counsel, is not legal advice, and it should be reviewed and approved by a licensed attorney before you rely on it or apply it to a client engagement.
Accessibility, ADA, and WCAG
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act has been applied by courts to business websites, and California adds the Unruh Civil Rights Act on top of it, which is why this state sees more web accessibility claims than most. There is no federal regulation that spells out a technical standard for private business sites, so courts and settlements have converged on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. We build to WCAG 2.2 Level AA on our own site and on the sites we build for clients. In practice that means semantic markup, full keyboard operation, visible focus indicators, contrast checked color choices, labeled form fields, descriptive alt text, and respect for reduced motion settings. We test with automated tooling on every build and by hand with keyboard navigation and screen readers on the pages that carry the most traffic. We do not install accessibility overlay widgets. Those scripts promise instant compliance, frequently interfere with the assistive technology a visitor already runs, and have shown up in demand letters rather than preventing them. Our full accessibility statement, including known limitations and how to report a barrier, lives on the Accessibility page. Clients who need a formal audit of an existing site can have that scoped as its own project.
Email and CAN-SPAM
The CAN-SPAM Act sets the floor for commercial email in the United States, and the penalties run per message, which makes sloppy list practices expensive fast. Every commercial email we send, and every one we build for a client, follows the same rules. The from name and email address identify the actual sender and are not disguised. Subject lines describe what is inside rather than baiting a click with something the message does not deliver. Any message that is an advertisement is identifiable as one. A valid physical postal address appears in the footer of every commercial send. Every message includes a clear, working unsubscribe link that does not require a login, a phone call, or a reason. Opt out requests are honored within 10 business days, and we process them the same day when the platform allows. We do not buy, rent, scrape, or append email lists, and we will not load a purchased list into a client account, because doing so damages sending reputation and puts the client's domain at risk along with their legal position. If a client's list has gone cold, we re-permission it rather than blasting it. Transactional and relationship messages, such as invoices and service notices, follow different rules but still identify the sender honestly.
Calls, Texts, and the TCPA
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act governs marketing calls and text messages, and it is the area where well meaning service businesses get into trouble most often. Statutory damages run per message, and the plaintiff bar in California pays close attention. When we build a lead capture form, an appointment reminder flow, or a text follow up sequence, the consent language is written into the form rather than assumed. Consent for marketing texts must be express, written, and separate from consent to be contacted about the specific inquiry, and it cannot be a condition of buying anything. We keep records of what a person agreed to, when, and from which form, because in a TCPA dispute the business carries the burden of proving consent. We honor STOP, END, UNSUBSCRIBE, and similar keywords immediately and permanently. We respect the National Do Not Call Registry for cold outreach and keep an internal do not call list on top of it. We keep marketing calls and texts inside permitted hours. We advise clients against autodialed cold texting entirely, whatever a vendor promises about deliverability. The risk is real, the exposure is per message, and the return does not justify it for a local service business.
Google Ads and Meta Advertising Policies
Ad platforms enforce their own rules, and a suspended account hurts more than a fine because the traffic stops the same day. We build campaigns to the published policies of Google Ads and Meta rather than testing where the line is. On Google Ads that means no misleading claims, no unsupported superlatives, no bait and switch between ad and landing page, accurate business information, required disclosures for regulated categories, and a functioning landing page that matches what the ad promised. Categories such as healthcare, legal services, financial services, addiction treatment, and home improvement carry extra certification or restriction requirements, and we check those before a campaign is built rather than after a disapproval. On Meta we follow the advertising standards, including the personal attributes rule, which prohibits ad copy that implies knowledge of a person's health, financial status, or other protected characteristic. Housing, employment, credit, and social issue ads fall into special ad categories with restricted targeting, and we run them in the correct category. Landing pages must load, must match the ad, and must not use aggressive interstitials. If a client asks for a claim we believe violates a platform policy or misleads a consumer, we say no and explain what we can run instead.
Data Processing and Vendors
When we run marketing for a client, we are handling that client's customer data, which makes us a service provider under California law and a processor under the General Data Protection Regulation. We operate that way in practice, not just on paper. We process client data only for the purposes the client set out in the scope. We do not sell it, we do not use it to benefit another client, and we do not merge one client's records into another's. Access is limited to the people working on the account. We use written data processing terms with the vendors that touch client data, and we prefer vendors that publish a real data processing addendum rather than a paragraph in a terms page. We keep the vendor list short on purpose, since each addition is another party holding information. When an engagement ends, we remove our access from client accounts, return or delete working files on request, and keep only what tax and contract records require. Clients own their accounts and their data throughout, which removes the most common failure point when an agency relationship ends. Our own site data practices, including retention windows and privacy rights, are detailed on the Privacy Policy page.
Reporting a Compliance Problem
If you see something from us or from a campaign we run that looks wrong, tell us and we will look at it the same week. That includes an email you cannot unsubscribe from, a text you did not agree to receive, an ad claim that seems misleading, a page you cannot access with a screen reader, or a data handling question about your own information. Email terrysr@online-website-marketing.com with Compliance in the subject line, or call (714) 823-3164 during business hours, seven days a week, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Pacific. Include what you saw, where you saw it, and roughly when, since campaign creative changes over time and a date helps us find the right version. We acknowledge reports within two business days. If something is genuinely wrong, we stop it first and investigate second, because a live problem should not keep running while we write an explanation. We tell you what we found and what we changed. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and it is not a substitute for a client getting their own counsel on rules specific to their industry. Licensed trades, healthcare practices, and law firms in particular carry advertising rules their own boards enforce.