Media Contact
Amber Hinds, CEO
(512) 942-5858 x 3
hello@equalizedigital.com
Equalize Digital has been selected out of thousands of startups to participate in MassChallenge’s 50th Accelerator Cohort.
Georgetown, Texas, July 17, 2021 – Equalize Digital was selected to participate in the highly competitive MassChallenge 2021 Austin, Texas accelerator program. Equalize Digital is one of 120 startups selected from over 3,000 applications for this year’s program, which is geared to helping startups that seek to disrupt the status quo and create meaningful change.
As a Certified B Corp, Equalize Digital has been independently verified as meeting the highest standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. Headquartered in Georgetown, Texas, Equalize Digital has a globally distributed team that is striving to create a world where all people have equal access to information and tools on the internet regardless of ability.
Equalize Digital’s SaaS software, Accessibility Checker, scans WordPress websites for accessibility problems and provides reports in the admin dashboard. WordPress is the most widely used content management system (CMS) in the world with a 41.5% market share, powering 64 million websites worldwide including 22% of the largest e-commerce websites in the world.
One in four U.S. adults have a disability and working-age people with disabilities in America have $490 billion in after-tax disposable income. This is a strong customer demographic that businesses should be tapping into, yet a recent study found that 97.4% of websites have accessibility problems that make them challenging or impossible for people with disabilities to use. Equalize Digital’s Founder and CEO, Amber Hinds, is striving to change that.
“Being accepted into MassChallenge is a huge win towards amplifying our impact and helping to create a more equitable web for people of all abilities,” says Hinds, “Since launching our plugin at the end of 2020, we’ve received positive feedback from both people with disabilities and accessibility professionals. Our userbase is rapidly expanding and we’re seeing more awareness about the importance of web accessibility among business owners and web developers alike. Our goal is to create a software tool that makes it easier and more affordable for website owners to make their websites accessible, and with the network and support provided by MassChallenge, we’ll be able to 10x our reach and impact.”
By participating in the MassChallenge accelerator, Equalize Digital will receive democratized access to the closed networks that have characterized the startup industry for decades all at zero cost and for zero equity. Ongoing programming is offered which includes access to angel groups, law firms, marketing agencies, PR firms, venture capital firms, corporate executives and staff, training sessions and workshops covering strategy, marketing, fundraising, team building, and other business activities. At the end of the four-month accelerator, Equalize Digital will have the ability to pitch in a final competition with the opportunity to win a $100,000 investment from a venture capital fund.
“Website accessibility is the new mobile design,” says Hinds, “Soon accessibility will be a mandatory component of all new websites, and Equalize Digital’s solutions will be the backbone of that movement.”
About Equalize Digital
Equalize Digital is a Certified B Corporation, WordPress VIP Agency Partner, woman-owned business, and corporate member of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals. Equalize Digital offers accessible website and web application design and development services as well as accessibility audits, user testing, and accessibility remediation. Equalize Digital’s Accessibility Checker plugin launched in December 2020 and has a free version available on WordPress.org. Learn more about Equalize Digital on equalizedigital.com.
About MassChallenge
MassChallenge is the global network for innovators. Headquartered in the United States with seven locations worldwide, MassChallenge equips bold entrepreneurs to disrupt the status quo and to create meaningful change. Since launching in 2009, more than 2,900 MassChallenge alumni have raised $8.6B in funding, generated $3.6B in revenue, and created more than 186,000 total jobs. Learn more about MassChallenge at masschallenge.org.
