From Google to the DOJ, major institutions are introducing some big changes in 2023 that will impact your attorney website. To keep you up to date, we’re explaining three of the most important new developments.

Here are three new developments that will affect websites for lawyers in 2023.

1. Making sure your website is truly accessible 

For the very first time, the Department of Justice will set forth rules for web accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for state and government entities under Title II. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) will be published in May and public comments must be received by no later than June 2023.

In the past, there has been ongoing debate about the extent to which the ADA applies to web content. However, this new announcement is a strong indicator that the DOJ is considering formal accessibility rules for entities under Title III in the future as well.

Furthermore, the new Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 will be published very soon. As best practices evolve, there are a lot of things to learn and incorporate into your site.

Don’t wait! Get ahead of this change and create a website that works for all visitors. You can either remediate your existing website or build a new accessible website from scratch.

2. Making sure your privacy policy is up to date

This year, many states are considering new privacy laws which impact how businesses collect and store data from online visitors.

If your website has a form of any type (contact form, appointment scheduler form, analytics tool, newsletter sign-up form), then you are collecting PII (Personally Identifiable Information) from your visitors. Because PII is regulated, certain businesses must have a Privacy Policy that discloses how this data is handled.

Ultimately, every legal website should explain how data is handled—even if there is no law about this in your state. 

Website privacy policy requirements for attorneys can be complex. We provide all our clients with a free Termageddon license to create a dynamic privacy policy. You can also use Termageddon’s state privacy bill tracker to monitor new developments in 2023.

3. Get ready for GA4 and say goodbye to Universal Analytics

In July 2023, Google will sunset Universal Analytics in favor of Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

Although this move has been met with dread by some marketers and analysts, Google has promised that GA4 will be a good change. 

Here are some key features of the new GA4:

  • Greater privacy protections with granular control for data collection (and no longer stores IP addresses)
  • Event-based data model to chart complete user journey across devices
  • Machine learning generates predictions to help you with marketing
  • Custom reports instead of dashboards
  • Anomaly detection
  • More integrations with other Google products

If you haven’t already embraced the transition to GA4, start now. Soon, you won’t have a choice.

Review and next steps

Web accessibility rules, privacy policy requirements, and a new analytics framework are coming down the hatch this year. If your firm’s website is not already compliant with forthcoming guidelines, you still have time to get on-board.

While you do need to keep up with new developments, you’re not alone in doing so. Get a quote and invest in your success this year with help from the legal marketing and design experts at Omnizant.

The post Websites for Lawyers: New Developments in 2023 appeared first on Omnizant.