Version 1.0 · 27 July 2026
The Emerald Build Standard
Anyone can produce a website now. Very few can show you what theirs was tested against. This is our list. Every build is measured against it before handover, and you get a dated report with your results.
Most web work is sold on adjectives. Fast, modern, SEO friendly, mobile optimised. None of those can be checked, which is exactly why everyone uses them.
Everything on this page is measured by a script, not asserted by a person. You can verify most of it yourself with free tools, and we would rather you did.
Accessibility
So the site works for people using a screen reader, a keyboard, or a phone in bright sun.
- Every text and background pair meets WCAG 2.1 AA contrast, checked by an automated gate that fails the build
- Every image carries an alt attribute, with decorative images correctly marked as decorative
- Every page declares its language and a mobile viewport
- One clear main heading per page, with headings in order
Performance
Because a slow site loses people before it has said anything.
- Server response under 200ms, measured on the live site as a median rather than a single lucky sample
- Images served as AVIF and WebP ahead of older formats
- Build output cached immutably at the edge, so repeat visits load from the nearest city
- Page weight measured and recorded, not estimated
Discoverability
So Google, and now AI assistants, can read and quote your site correctly.
- A unique title and meta description on every page, measured as rendered rather than as authored
- A canonical URL on every page
- Structured data so search engines and AI assistants read your business correctly
- XML sitemap and robots.txt published
Security and transport
The part nobody sees until it matters.
- HTTPS enforced, with HSTS so browsers refuse to fall back
- Content-type sniffing disabled
- Referrer, framing and permissions policies set on every response
- Accounts and domains in your name, so you can never be locked out
Code and build
Boring, and the reason things do not break six months later.
- Strict TypeScript with zero errors
- A clean production build, verified before anything ships
- Every gate above run again on the finished site, not just during development
How it is checked
Measured, then handed to you
The same checks run on every build. They are part of the build process, not a favour we remember to do at the end.
1
The gates run on every build
Contrast, discoverability and type safety are wired into the build itself. If one fails, the build fails, so a broken site cannot quietly reach you.
2
You get a dated report
At handover we generate a report showing your results against every line above, with the actual numbers and the date they were measured. It is yours to keep and to show anyone.
3
Re-tested every year
Sites drift as content and third party scripts get added. Clients on a Care Plan get the whole standard re-run annually, with a fresh report.
Read this part too
What this standard does not cover
We are not going to tell you your website is "certified" or "compliant", because that would not be true and you should be sceptical of anyone who does.
Automated testing finds roughly a third of accessibility problems. It can confirm an image has alt text. It cannot judge whether that text is useful. It can confirm your headings are in order. It cannot judge whether the page makes sense to someone using a screen reader. A full WCAG 2.1 AA conformance claim needs manual testing by an independent assessor, including keyboard-only and screen reader review. That is a real service, we can arrange it, and it is not what this is.
Also not covered: the accuracy of your content, legal review of your terms or privacy policy, penetration testing, load testing, and anything added to the site after the test date.
If accessibility conformance is a contractual requirement for you, say so up front. We will build to it, commission an independent audit, and fix whatever it finds.
Ready when you are
Ask the other quote what theirs is tested against.
It is a fair question and it is worth asking before you choose. Tell us about your business and we will come back with a fixed quote, usually within 24 hours.