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Someone alerted me they received a text about crypto from me.  This is not me.  This is a scam of some sort (e.g., hacking, phishing, etc.).  I am not contacting you.

If you would like to contact me about consulting / live crypto support, I charge $185/hour for live sessions.

Never send money to someone who claims to be without having contacted me first.

You can email me at krisrivenburgh@gmail.com.

So many people want to buy Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, etc. but they don’t know how.

In the past I created a cryptocurrency consultancy firm to provide actual, real help for beginners who want to own their own crypto.

The goal is to make things as easy and as simple as possible while providing a go to for advice that people can trust.

Trust is hard to find in the cryptocurrency world so I created this service.

The reality is beyond the practical side of figuring out how to buy and sell, people need to be able to consult with someone they can feel safe with and trust won’t try to rip them off or steal their money.

By 1) making it possible for beginners (or dummies) to buy and 2) providing support from a trustworthy source, I hope to carve out my niche in crypto consulting.

1. I’m very open and notorious.  I’m a public figure with my name attached.  It’s very easy to find me and see photos/videos.
2. I provide numerous ways to contact me.  My goal is to help people with great customer support and information, not run away and hide from them.  It’s very easy to get a hold of me: call, text, email, SKYPE, Facebook, live chat, etc.
3. I’ll never ask for your private key or passwords.  This is absolutely on purpose so as to protect you and myself.  I don’t want access to your accounts, wallets, or exchanges and neither should any else that helps you.
4. I want to legitimately earn business and profit.  I hate scams and the people that perpetrate them.

If you need help buying or selling Bitcoin, Eth (Ethereum), Cardano or other cryptocurrency, I may be able to help you.

I charge $185/hour for live consultation or support with crypto.  I will only charge you for the crypto sessions – never send money to anyone who claims to be me before contacting me first.

I will never call or text you beforehand.  Always verify with me prior to sending money for a consultation session.

You can email me at krisrivenburgh@gmail.com.

Sometimes I can’t help you.  If I can’t, I’ll let you know.

As of March 2, 2021 Binance / Binance.us does not support Texas residents.

I originally created a service for people having trouble trading cryptocurrency because a lot of times people need to talk to a real person, not just read the same FAQ sections or chat with a bot.

Cryptocurrency is a delicate thing, especially if you’re not tech savvy or just a beginner.  It’s so easy for someone to say they’re going to help you and then turn around and rip you off.

The overarching theme here is I’m trustworthy and proving this out by establishing trust by making all the right moves one step at a time.  I’ve already helped a handful of clients that had a level of skepticism (understandably so because crypto is wild) but quickly saw that I was legitimate.

If you need help with Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, or another ALT coin or token, contact me and let’s see if I can resolve your problem.  Read more about hiring me for help with cryptocurrency.

It’s also important to know that I’m not associated with any of the exchanges, coins, or other third party services like Coinbase, Binance, etc.

If a policy of theirs is stopping you from completing a transaction, I can’t force them to act.

I will also never ask for your private key or account passwords.  If someone does, then it’s not me.

I offer the simple service of an actual, real live person helping you with cryptocurrency.  Beyond the service, I think the trust factor alone makes the price a tremendous value.

Just days before the 2021 New Year, I spoke with someone who had received a very brief demand letter from Pacific Trial Attorneys.

In 2020, I received several emails from people who had also received a demand letter from Pacific Trial Attorneys.  The claim being that their website discriminates against persons with disabilities.

Plaintiffs

Scott Ferrell is listed as the lawyer on the demand letters.

But Ferrell isn’t just sending demand letters, he’s filing lawsuits too.  Two common plaintiffs for the lawsuits are Rusty Rendon and Brittney Mejico.

Court

The Superior Court of The State of California for the County of Los Angeles is where I’ve seen lawsuits filed.

Law

Pacific Trial Attorneys typically is not relying on claims made under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) but California’s Unruh Act, formally included as California Civil Code § 51 et seq.

The Unruh Act runs parallel to the ADA in terms of requiring non-discrimination but provide for plaintiffs to capture damages beyond attorney’s fees.

I’ve increasingly heard from not retailers, not restaurants, not banks but from bloggers with moderately successful blogs on WordPress (the platform does not matter, a website using any blogging or website builder platform can be sued).

As for as out-of-state defendants, in the lawsuits I looked at, only a very general rationale is provided:

“The Website is a “business establishment” within the meaning of the California Civil Code § 51 et seq. Defendant generates hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue from the sale of its goods and services in California through the Website.”

Any entity should be proactive if they’re aware of web accessibility lawsuits but especially small business owners are they impacted disproportionately hard when they receive that ugliest of letters in the mail.

Damages Requested in Lawsuit

As I mentioned earlier, The Unruh Act is distinct from the Americans with Disabilities Act in that it allows for the recovery of damages.  In the prayer for relief, plaintiff, among other things asks for:

“An award of statutory minimum damages of $4,000 per violation pursuant to section 52(a) of the California Civil Code; however, Plaintiff expressly limits the total amount of recovery, including statutory damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and cost of injunctive relief not to exceed $74,999…”

Pacific Trial Attorneys is very active in website accessibility litigation.  The best way to prevent a demand letter or lawsuit from any plaintiffs firm is to make your website conformant with WCAG 2.1 AA.

After litigation has been initiated most website accessibility cases end in settlement.

Services

If you need any assistance with web accessibility, feel free to contact me at kris@accessible.org.

An accessibility statement is a public-facing document that states your commitment to digital accessibility and inclusion and provides the status on the accessibility of your website, app, content, etc.

Because the Department of Justice (DOJ) has mandated accessibility statements in settlements, it is a best practice for ADA compliance to post a conspicuous accessibility statement.

I have researched several DOJ settlements specific to website and mobile app accessibility and created the following basic template with example text to use as a guide on how to write an accessibility statement.

You can purchase my full template with customizable text on Accessible.org.

Template (Basic)

1. State your accessibility policy generally. This section speaks to your organizational commitment and may include diversity and inclusion language but should specify including those with disabilities.
2. Invite feedback and offer support. Provide at least one means of contact (e.g., form, email, phone number).
3. Identify the technical standards you meet/strive to meet. This will typically be WCAG 2.0 AA or 2.1 AA.
4. Discuss compatibility and possibly technical limitations. For example, there are known compatibility issues with Microsoft Explorer, list that.
5. Speak to your accessibility manager or coordinator.
6. Detail who is aware of your policy, who your policy is distributed to. For example, vendors, contractors, and employees.
7. Highlight any experts, consultants, courses, or materials you have invested in and how they have impacted your accessibility. This is a written demonstration of your commitment (i.e., you’re not just talking, you’re taking action).
8. Specify your accessibility testing methods (i.e., automated scans, independent audits, user testing).
9. Outline your organization’s accessibility training and education practices.
10. Talk to your compliance and/or efforts towards compliance with applicable laws (e.g., Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 508, AODA, EN 301 549, etc.).
11. Resources section with helpful links.

Important: Do not make any claims that are not true or do not align with your actions.

Below is a basic example of the template above in action.

You can buy the full, premium version at Accessible.org.

Example (Basic)

1. State your policy

At KrisRivenburgh.com, we’re committed to accessibility. It is our policy to ensure that everyone, including persons with disabilities, has full and equal access to our digital offerings.

2. Invite feedback.

We welcome your feedback on your experience with KrisRivenburgh.com. Email us at accessibility@KrisRivenburgh.com with any questions or comments you have.

3. Identify Standards.

KrisRivenburgh.com strives to conform to the following accessibility standards: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA, PDF/Universal Accessibility (PDF/UA).

4. Compatibility

KrisRivenburgh.com is compatible with most major Internet browsers including Chrome, FireFox, and Safari.

KrisRivenburgh.com may not perform optionally on Internet Explorer and older browser versions.

5. Accessibility Coordinator

KrisRivenburgh.com has appointed a Web Accessibility Coordinator to help meet the objectives in this policy.

6. Distribution

KrisRivenburgh.com distributes this policy to all personnel who work with web content including writers, editors, designers, and developers.

7. Consultant

KrisRivenburgh.com has retained an independent expert consultant to conduct annual audits and testing on KrisRivenburgh.com.

8. Testing

KrisRivenburgh.com engages in automated testing and user testing to asses and improve accessibility.

9. Training

KrisRivenburgh.com web content personnel undergo mandatory quarterly accessibility training.

10. Compliance

Through genuine effort and commitment including testing, evaluations, consulting, and remediation, we believe KrisRivenburgh.com adheres to best practices for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

11. Resources.

For more information on web accessibility and legal requirements, here are helpful resources:

ADA.gov
Section508.gov
Accessible.org
W3.org/WAI

Entity Differences

Your accessibility statement will be adjusted based on multiple factors (e.g., type of digital asset, size of entity, principal location or headquarters, etc.).

For example, for small businesses or sole proprietorships, your accessibility coordinator might be just you and your training may consist of watching YouTube videos.

For a large corporation, there will be an entire accessibility policy with numerous details including departmental responsibilities, deadlines, and program management.

If you need help with creating your accessibility program, plan, policy, or statement, you can email me at kris@accessible.org.

VPAT® stands for Voluntary Product Accessibility Template. A VPAT is a document that helps procurement agents quickly assess your digital product’s accessibility.

VPATs are issued for a wide range of digital products including web products, desktop applications, software, and hardware.

What is it?

A VPAT is a template that, when completed, provides an overview of the accessibility of a product as per the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).  As we head into 2021, most digital products will be evaluated based on WCAG 2.1 AA.

A VPAT is related to a manual accessibility audit in that an audit must be conducted to complete and accurately fill out a VPAT, but a VPAT is not an audit itself.

Rather, the table for a VPAT lists out each WCAG success criteria and includes the support level and any relevant notes for each.

The support levels are:

• Supports
• Partially Supports
• Does Not Support
• Not applicable

Note that it is not always practically and/or technologically feasible to make a product or service fully WCAG 2.0 AA or 2.1 AA conformant.

Example

The Information Technology Industry Council developed the the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® to create Accessibility Conformance Reports (ACRs) to assist government contracting officials and other buyers in identifying commercially available information and communications technology (ICT) with accessible features.

You can find examples of a VPAT on the ITIC.org website.

Accessibility Conformance Report

An Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) is the final report generated from filling out a VPAT.  However, this term has not been picked up and even final reports are typically referred to as VPATs in procurement.

Example: Here is the ACR for Google Docs.

Legal Requirement

As per Section 508, a VPAT is a requirement if you want to conduct business with the Federal government or one of the government’s vendors.

Per Section508.gov:

“If you manufacture, build, design, create, teach, or resell ICT products or services, you are an ICT Vendor. To do business with the Federal government, you need to demonstrate that your ICT product or service is accessible and conforms to the Revised 508 Standards.”

Procurement

Also, VPAT requests to ensure product accessibility are rapidly becoming standard practice in the private marketplace.  Many B2B transactions hinge on whether a VPAT is provided by a vendor or seller.

Consumers also are increasingly looking for VPATs to assess a product’s level of accessibility and whether they should purchase the product.

Some organizations post their VPATs publicly. In many cases, it’s highly beneficial to do so. The more accessible a product or service is (relative to the competition), the more likely it is that a contract will be awarded or the product or service will be purchased.

Independent Agency

It is highly recommended that you hire a reputable third party that specializes in accessibility to create your VPAT.

While VPATs can be created in-house, this can be problematic as a VPAT requires expertise and experience to understand and fill out the form competently and accurately.

Moreover, in-house assessments are more likely to gloss over accessibility issues rather than detail them.

VPATs are ineffective and detrimental if they are not accurately and honestly filled out.

Services

If you need help with a VPAT, feel free to email me at kris@accessible.org.