Re: Ethics and Morals in Web Design

We have faced this issue a few times, and our policies are similar to
Judith's...

No adult sites.
No spam sites.
No hate sites (although that has never come up).

We cater mostly to small businesses, so that tends to streamline things a
bit.

However, we have one additional "unspoken" rule... as a rule we will NOT
design a site for a "dot-com".  Typically, our clients are businesspeople
who have an actual "brick and mortar" store where they also sell their
products.  We shy away from potential clients who just "have an idea" and
want to "make money on the Internet".  Historically we have found that when
we have worked with them, they:

1) want to make money with no real investment;
2) are not able to make the commitment to being successful, and;
3) tend to not be the most reliable and knowledgeable businesspeople.

We don't want that to come back to reflect on us as a business.  We have
worked for over 5 years to build a very successful business within our niche
and feel no need to "take a flyer" on potentially risky clients.  Is it
right and just and morally correct?  Maybe, maybe not, but the reality is
that we have serviced over 100 clients in 13 states over the past 5 years
and are still working actively with all but 3 or 4 of those clients.  It
pays to be a bit choosy when deciding whether or not to work with a client.

Thanks!

Michael Schultz
Vice President of Operations
Virtualtech Web Site Design and Promotion, Inc.   http://www.virtualtech.com
(800) 474-7001
"We Put The Pieces Together"

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brandon Coughlin" <bcoughlin(at)urx.com>
To: "HWG-Business(at)hwg.org" <hwg-business(at)hwg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 8:42 AM
Subject: Ethics and Morals in Web Design


>
> As most of you are aware, this topic seems to be rather sensitive - this
> proved true a few weeks back on the Techniques list.  I am truly
interested
> though in how this issue is tackled by website designers.
>
> I (like a lot of other people I know) choose to operate according to a
> statement of ethics in which the designer expresses what type of business
> he/she will or will not choose to accept, in regards to the subject of the
> content that will be on the website.  Some people believe that this
intrudes
> on freedom of speech and in some cases, freedom of religion.  Others (like
> me) believe that their freedom of religion allows them to make these
> restrictions.
>
> What is your opinion on this issue?  Does you or your company have a
> statement of ethics, if so can you post it here for us to see?
>
> Thanks - I am hoping this will be a constructive discussion here.
>
> Brandon Coughlin
>
>

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