Your Alexandria consultancy's Squarespace site can't prove Section 508 conformance, and a federal prospect just asked for the VPAT: problems and solutions
A custom website for an Alexandria firm runs $20k to $75k and 2 to 4 months. Wix and Squarespace launch a brochure fine. You go custom when a federal client or prospect expects demonstrable Section 508 / WCAG conformance with a VPAT you can hand over, or when your site needs gated capability statements, past-performance libraries, and integrations a template platform can't deliver.
Businesses in Alexandria run into very specific operational problems. Across federal government contracting, professional and consulting services, tourism and hospitality, the same Government contractors and consultancies face strict compliance and security requirements, yet many small shops still track contract deliverables and timesheets in spreadsheets that fail audit and reporting standards. keeps surfacing, manual workflows that do not scale, disconnected tools that leak data, and software that fights the team instead of helping it. The right custom build closes those gaps directly, turning the daily friction Alexandria companies feel into systems that just work, so the team spends time on customers instead of workarounds.
Your consulting firm's site sits on Squarespace and looks clean enough. Then a federal prospect's procurement team asks for your VPAT, the document stating how your digital properties conform to Section 508, and you realize you can't produce one, because a closed template platform gives you no control over the markup conformance requires. The thing that should be a checkbox becomes a credibility problem in front of exactly the client you want.
Beyond accessibility, a contractor's site does real work: it hosts capability statements, past-performance write-ups, and core-competency pages that need to be findable, gated, and current. Wix and Squarespace handle a small-business brochure well; they don't handle a federal-facing firm that has to prove conformance and present credibility to evaluators who read carefully.
Where the off-the-shelf tools fall short
- Closed template platforms (Wix, Squarespace) give no control over the markup needed to prove Section 508 / WCAG conformance
- No VPAT or accessibility-conformance documentation a federal procurement team can request
- Capability statements and past-performance content hard to organize, gate, or keep current on a template
- Integrations with your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and proposal tools that template builders restrict or block
Custom website: what Alexandria teams actually get
A custom or properly built CMS site gives you control over the accessible markup that Section 508 conformance requires, lets you produce a credible VPAT, and structures your capability statements and past performance so federal evaluators find what they need. It also integrates with your capture CRM and content systems, so your public presence and your business development pipeline aren't two disconnected worlds.
Feature priorities for Alexandria teams
What we build under website in Alexandria
Digital Heroes builds the full website stack for Alexandria teams. Typical engagements cover Jamstack, SEO-optimized websites, website redesign, custom website development, web design and Next.js development.
- A federal client or prospect has asked for a VPAT or Section 508 conformance you can't currently prove
- Your site needs structured capability statements and past-performance content
- You need integrations with your CRM or proposal tools a template platform blocks
- Your public credibility in front of federal evaluators matters to winning work
- You're a small local business with no federal-facing accessibility requirement
- A template plus an accessibility plugin genuinely covers your conformance needs
- Your site is a simple brochure with no integration or gating requirement
- Budget and timeline demand a launch in days, not months
The honest cost picture for Alexandria
| Project scope | Typical cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Accessible marketing site with capability content | $20k to $35k | 2 months |
| Add past-performance library and CRM integration | $35k to $55k | 3 months |
| Full build with gated content and documented conformance | $55k to $75k | 4 months |
Timeline: what happens, and when
Exactly what you get
A site that can stand in front of a federal procurement team without flinching. Accessibility is built into the markup, so you can produce a real VPAT instead of guessing. Your capability statements and past performance are organized the way evaluators read them, your inquiries flow into your capture pipeline, and the whole thing is fast and secure. It's a credibility instrument, not a brochure.
How to choose a developer in Alexandria
Hire a developer who can produce a VPAT and explain WCAG 2.1 AA conformance without hand-waving, because for a federal-facing Alexandria firm that's the whole point. Ask to see an accessibility audit from past work. A developer who knows the contracting market will understand why capability statements and past performance need structure, not just nice design. The site should integrate with your capture CRM and feed your business development, so a team that also builds those systems connects your presence to your pipeline.
- Demonstrable Section 508 / WCAG conformance with a VPAT you can hand to a federal procurement team
- Full control of markup and semantics, so accessibility is built in rather than fought against a template
- Capability statements and past-performance libraries organized for how evaluators actually read
- Integration with your capture CRM so site inquiries flow into your pipeline
- A credible, fast, secure presence that holds up in front of careful federal evaluators
- A custom or CMS-based site costs more upfront than a Wix or Squarespace subscription
- You own hosting, security updates, and maintenance instead of a platform handling it
- For a pure brochure with no compliance need, custom is more than the job requires
- Accessibility conformance is ongoing work, not a one-time build, and needs discipline to maintain
- !They can't produce or explain a VPAT; ask how they'll document Section 508 conformance
- !They propose Wix or Squarespace for a federal-facing firm; ask how you'd prove accessibility
- !No accessibility testing in the plan; ask how they verify WCAG conformance before launch
- !No CRM integration; ask how a capability-statement download becomes a tracked lead
- !They treat accessibility as a plugin; ask how it's built into the markup itself
If website is on the roadmap, hr, accounting, business intelligence dashboards usually follow within the year. Budget them as one conversation.
Rohan advises mid-market and enterprise teams on ERP, CRM and custom software, and has led delivery on dozens of business-software builds.
Writes for Digital Heroes, shipping business software for 2,000+ brands across 55+ countries since 2017.
Frequently asked questions
What is a VPAT and why does it matter?
A Voluntary Product Accessibility Template documents how your digital properties conform to Section 508 accessibility standards. Federal procurement teams request it to confirm your firm meets accessibility obligations. A closed template platform makes producing a credible VPAT nearly impossible because you don't control the markup. If a federal client has asked for one, that's a clear signal to build.
Can't an accessibility plugin make Wix compliant?
Not reliably. Overlay plugins claim to add accessibility but don't fix the underlying markup, and they often fail real conformance review. Genuine Section 508 conformance requires accessible semantics built into the page itself, which means control over the code, which template platforms restrict. For a federal-facing firm, plugins are a false economy.
Do we need a full custom build or a CMS?
Often a well-built CMS like WordPress, done accessibly, is enough and cheaper than fully bespoke. The deciding factors are conformance control, integration needs, and content structure. What matters is that you control the markup and can document conformance, not whether it's hand-coded or CMS-based.
How long does an accessible site take?
Two to four months depending on content volume and integrations, versus a day on a template. The extra time goes into accessible design, conformance testing, and structuring your capability content properly. It's slower because it's doing more, specifically the parts a federal evaluator will scrutinize.