Quick summary
fare·well is a 10-person website agency based in Oregon, specializing in supporting outdoor and sustainability-focused organizations. They needed a smarter, more scalable way to ensure quality across their website builds – and to stand out in a crowded market. Silktide became their go-to platform for accessibility auditing, transforming their sales process, improving outcomes, and helping them differentiate from competitors who weren’t prioritizing accessibility.
About fare·well
fare·well began as a side project in 2016 while founder Kevin Watkins was working a full-time job. By 2020, he took the leap to run the agency full-time – just as the pandemic hit and his wife was expecting their first child. Today, the “small but mighty” team of 10 works with membership-based nonprofits, chambers of commerce, and purpose-driven brands in the outdoor and sustainability space. They offer copywriting, SEO, design, development, and accessibility support, with a focus on empowering clients to confidently manage their own websites.
The challenge
As the team grew, so did the complexity of their projects, and their quality assurance processes weren’t keeping up. They were relying on basic tools like Figma’s contrast checker and Webflow’s accessibility reminders, which only caught the most surface-level issues. Anything more detailed required time-consuming manual checks.
“We were doing things manually, and we just didn’t have a clear process. It made things harder as we added more people.”
Kevin wanted to tighten their workflow and raise the bar – not just to build better websites, but to stand out from local competitors who weren’t prioritizing accessibility at all.
The solution
fare·well adopted Silktide as their all-in-one quality assurance platform. Not just for accessibility, but for broken links, content issues, SEO, and privacy.
They integrated Silktide throughout their workflow:
- During sales: Kevin runs audits live on discovery calls and includes key findings in proposals to show clients exactly what needs fixing.
- During development: They check accessibility after the homepage is built, then run full-site audits in stages, aiming for scores of 80%, 90%, and finally 98–100% before launch.
- For training: All new hires go through the Silktide Academy, even non-developers, to build a shared understanding of accessibility.
- Post-launch: Their monthly service packages include continued Silktide monitoring and performance improvements.
“Even our designers and copywriters go through the training. It just gets everybody speaking the same language.”
The outcome
Silktide completely changed the way fare·well operates. They now aim for near-perfect scores across all Silktide metrics before launching a site – and consistently hit them.
“When we launch a site, we use Silktide, and our goal is to get all those scores up to 98 to 100 on each of those.”
It also changed how they sell. By showing live audits using the Silktide Toolbar, Kevin gives clients visual proof of what’s broken and how fare·well can help. That clarity helps close deals.
It’s also opened new revenue opportunities. They’re now winning work from clients with “good-looking” sites that aren’t performing technically, and Silktide gives them the data to show exactly where those sites fall short.
“It’s not just about accessibility. It’s about performance. SEO. Content. We’ve turned that into a full package.”
Most importantly, sites built this way perform better from day one – and clients notice.
“Our sites tend to do really well after launch. Clients are seeing it, and that builds trust.”
What’s next?
fare·well continues to use accessibility as a competitive edge, especially in Oregon, where fewer agencies prioritize it. With legislation lagging behind other states, they see it as a way to lead, not just comply.
“You can’t slack off anymore. There are millions of websites added every day. If you want to stand out, you need to do everything you can.”
They’re doubling down on technical excellence as both a moral and business decision, building faster, more accessible sites that are ready for the next generation of the web.