Terms of Service

In Summary:

Audience Websites (‘we’/’our’/’us’) will always do its best to fulfil the needs of the client (‘you’/’your’) and meet expectations however it’s 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. Within this terms of service, you won’t find any complicated legal terms or long passages of unreadable text. We’ve no desire to trick you into signing something that you might later regret. What we do want is what’s best for both parties, both now and in the future.
By purchasing a website or any other service from Audience Websites, you confirm that you agree to adhere to these terms of service. These terms of service are legally binding and represent an agreement between you (the client) and Audience Websites (the service provider).

What do both parties agree to do?

You have the authority to enter into this contract on behalf of yourself, your company or your organisation. You’ll provide Audience Websites everything we need to complete the project as and when and in the format we require it. You’ll review all work carried out by Audience Websites, provide feedback and approval in a timely manner too. Deadlines work two ways, so you’ll also be bound by dates we set together. You also agree to stick to the payment schedule set out at the end of this Agreement.

Audience Websites:

We have the experience and ability to do everything we’ve agreed with you and we’ll do it all in a professional and timely manner. We’ll endeavour to meet every deadline that’s set and on top of that we’ll maintain the confidentiality of everything you give us.

Design work:

We create look-and-feel designs and flexible layouts that adapt to the capabilities of many devices and screen sizes. We create designs iteratively and use predominantly pre-designed or customer-supplied WordPress themes, using HTML and CSS, so we won’t waste time mocking up every theme view as a static visual. We may use static visuals to indicate a look-and-feel direction (colour, texture and typography).
You’ll have sufficient opportunities to review our work and provide feedback. If, at any stage, you’re not happy with the direction our work is taking, you’ll pay us in full for everything we’ve produced up until that point and cancel our contract.

Text Content:

We’re not responsible for writing or inputting any text copy. If you’d like us to write new content or input text for you, we can provide a separate estimate for that.

Photographs/Images:

You should supply graphic files in an editable, vector digital format. You should supply photographs in a high resolution digital format. If you choose to buy stock photographs, we can suggest stock libraries. If you’d like us to search for photographs for you, we can also provide a separate estimate for that.

HTML, CSS and Javascript:

We will deliver a theme developed from HTML5 markup, CSS2.1 + 3 stylesheets for styling and unobtrusive Javascript for feature detection, poly-fills and behaviours.

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 visitor’s experience of a design should be appropriate to the capabilities of a browser or device.

Desktop Browser Testing:

We test our work in current versions of major desktop browsers including those made by Apple (Safari), Google (Chrome), Microsoft (Internet Explorer), Mozilla Firefox and Opera. We’ll also test to ensure Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 for Windows users get an appropriate, possibly different, experience. We won’t test in other older browsers unless you specify otherwise. If you need an enhanced design for an older browser, we can provide a separate estimate for that.

Mobile Browser Testing:

Testing popular small-screen devices is essential in ensuring that a visitor’s experience of a design is appropriate to the capabilities of the device they’re using. We test our work in:

iOS: Safari, Google Chrome and Opera Mini

Android 4.1: Google Chrome, Firefox and Opera Mini
Android 3.2: Browser, Firefox and Opera Mini

We currently don’t test Blackberry OS or Blackberry QNX, Opera Mobile, Symbian or other mobile browsers. If you require us to test these browsers then we can provide a separate estimate for that.

Technical Support:

Audience Websites can provide hosting services and all websites are hosted on SiteHost (New Zealand) servers. You may already have professional hosting and you might even manage that hosting in-house; if you do, great. If you don’t, we can set up an account for you at SiteHost and provide ongoing support. We can set up your site on a server, plus any statistics software such as Google Analytics and we can provide a separate estimate for that. Then, the updates to, and management of that server will be up to you, unless we have contracted for that service separately.

Changes and Revisions:

We know from experience that fixed-price contracts are rarely beneficial to you, as they often limit you to your earliest ideas. We don’t want to limit your ability to change your mind. The price at the beginning of any contract is based on the length of time we estimate we’ll need to accomplish everything you’ve told us you want to achieve, but we’re happy to be flexible. If you want to change your mind or add anything new, that won’t be a problem as we’ll provide a separate estimate for that.

Legal Stuff:

We can’t guarantee that our work will be 100% error-free and so we can’t 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 us 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.

Copyright Information:

First, you guarantee that all elements of text, images or other artwork you provide are either owned by your good selves or that you’ve permission to use them.

Then, when your final payment has cleared, copyright will be automatically assigned as follows:

You’ll own the visual elements that we create for this project. We’ll give you source files and finished files and you should keep them somewhere safe as we’re not required to keep a copy. You own all elements of text, images and data you provided, unless someone else owns them.

We love to show off our work and share what we’ve learned with other interested parties and we reserve the right to display and link to your project as part of our portfolio and to write about the project on websites, in magazine articles and in books.

Change Request:

A “Change Request” is any request for work outside the scope of the Scope of Work agreed within the contract.

If you make a change request, we’ll bill the work on a time and materials basis, at our standard hourly rate of $140+gst p/hr. We may also extend the delivery schedule.

Payments:

We’re sure you understand how important it is as a small business that you pay the invoices that we send you promptly. As we’re also sure you’ll want to stay friends, you agree to stick tight to the following payment schedule.

On the signing of any contract: 50% down payment

On the completion of work: 50% remainder

Invoice:

We will invoice you according to the Statement of Work. You agree to pay all invoices within 7 days of receipt.

But where’s all the horrible small print?

Just like a parking ticket, you can’t transfer this Agreement to anyone else without our permission. This Agreement stays in place and need not be renewed. If for some reason one part of this Agreement becomes invalid or unenforceable, the remaining parts of it remain in place.

Although the language is simple, the intentions are serious and this Agreement is a legal document under exclusive jurisdiction of the Auckland District Court.