Between Alex Pearson, an independent Web Developer and you, [customer name]
I'll always do my best to fulfil your needs and meet your expectations, but 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. In this contract, 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, now and in the future.
So in short;
You ([customer name]), located at [customer address] are hiring Alex Pearson, reachable at 4910 West Pine Blvd #605, St. Louis MO, to [design and develop a web site] for the estimated total price of [total] as outlined in our previous correspondence. The full list of project specs and requirements are listed later in this contract.
You: You have the authority to enter into this contract on behalf of yourself, your company, or your organisation. You’ll give us everything we need to complete the project as and when and in the format we need it. You’ll review our work, provide feedback and approval in a timely manner. 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 contract.
Me: I 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.
I create look-and-feel designs, including flexible layouts that adapt to the capabilities of many devices and screen sizes. I create designs iteratively, and predominantly use HTML and CSS during the design process so that we won’t waste time mocking up every template as a static visual. I may use wireframe mock-ups or static visuals to indicate a look-and-feel direction (colour, texture, and typography) as a part of the design process.
You’ll have plenty of opportunities to review our work and provide feedback. You’ll have view-only access to our test server, and we will have regular, possibly daily contact, for the duration of the contract. If, at any stage, you’re not happy with the direction our work is taking, you’ll pay me in full for everything we’ve produced until that point and cancel this contract.
I'm not responsible for writing or inputting any text copy. If you’d like me to write new content or input text for you, we can provide a separate estimate for that.
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 provide a separate estimate for that.
I deliver web page types developed from HTML5 markup, CSS2.1 + 3 stylesheets for styling, unobtrusive JavaScript for feature detection, poly-fills, and behaviours, and all other scripts, text resources, and libraries deemed necessary by me for the deployment of a completed site.
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 person’s experience of a design should be appropriate to the capabilities of a browser or device. Browser testing also includes testing for an optimized and efficient page speed, as measured by Google Page Speed insights.
By default, all of my websites rely on JavaScript for full functionality. If you need additional designs for JavaScript-disabled browsers, I can provide a separate estimate for that.
I test my work in current versions of major desktop browsers including those made by Apple (Safari), Google (Chrome), Microsoft (Internet Explorer), Mozilla (Firefox) and Opera. I’ll also test to ensure Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 for Windows users get an appropriate, possibly different, experience. I’ll implement a simplified, minimally-styled design for older versions of Internet Explorer, and I won’t test in other older browsers unless you specify otherwise. If you need an enhanced design for an older browser, I can provide a separate estimate for that.
Testing popular small-screen devices is essential in ensuring that a person’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 Android 4.x: Google Chrome and Firefox
We currently don’t test Blackberry, Opera Mini/Mobile, Windows Phone, Dolphin, or other mobile browsers. If you need us to test using these, we can provide a separate estimate for that. All designs are tested for compatibility with a variety of device sizes, from the smallest iPhone, to the most popular Samsung phablets, to the largest tablets.
###SEO
While all sites are designed according to best-practices for Search Engine Optimization, I cannot guarantee any improvement to a search engine ranking. I will, however, build every site in a way that is accessible to search engines in an effort to increase its chances for better ranking.
I'm in the businesses of hosting websites myself, so I don’t offer support for website hosting, email, or other services relating to hosting beyond the initial upload of the finished product. You may already have professional hosting and you might even manage that hosting in-house; if you do, great. If you don’t, I can set up an account for you at one of our preferred hosting providers. I can set up your site on a server, plus any statistics software like Google Analytics that you require, and we can provide a separate estimate for that. Then, the updates to and management of that server will be up to you.
I know from experience that fixed-price contracts often limit you to your earliest ideas. I don’t want to limit your ability to change your mind. The price at the beginning of this contract is based on the length of time I estimate we’ll need to accomplish everything you’ve told me you want to achieve, but I'm happy to be flexible. If you want to change your mind or add anything new, that won’t be a problem as I’ll provide a separate estimate for that.
We can’t guarantee that our work will be 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.
First, you guarantee that all elements of text, images or other artwork you provide are either owned by you, 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 any visual elements that I create for this project. I’ll give you source files and finished files and you should keep them somewhere safe as I’m not required to keep a copy. You own all elements of text, images, and data you provided, unless someone else owns them.
I’ll own the unique combination of these elements that constitutes a complete design and I’ll license its use to you, exclusively and in perpetuity for this project only, unless we agree otherwise.
I love to show off our work and share what I’ve learned with other people, so I reserve the right, with your permission, to display and link to your project as part of my portfolio and to write about it on websites, in magazine articles, and in books.
I'm sure you understand how important it is as a small business that you pay the invoices that we send you promptly. As I'm also sure you’ll want to stay friends, you agree to stick tight to the following payment schedule.
[Payment schedule]
Just like a parking ticket, you can’t transfer this contract to anyone else without our permission. This contract stays in place and need not be renewed. If for some reason one part of this contract becomes invalid or unenforceable, the remaining parts of it remain in place.
Although the language is simple, the intentions are serious and this contract is a legal document under exclusive jurisdiction of Missouri courts.
Signed by and on behalf of [company name] Signed by and on behalf of [customer name] Date [date]
Everyone should sign above and keep a copy for their records.