Introducing the Ethical Web Collective: An Initiative by Plank

As a Certified B Corporation, Plank is committed to constant evolution by ensuring that we are dedicated to continuously bettering ourselves as individuals and an agency. The most important thing to Plank is ensuring that we are creating websites in a way that benefits our clients, their audiences, and communities.

We want our journey to be transparent and inclusive to our community. As part of this, we have launched our Ethical Web Collective, previously the Ethical Web Design Framework.

Our Roots: Ethical Web Design Framework

You may be familiar with our Ethical Web Design Framework which we launched in 2021. In this framework, we shared our approach on important topics such as accessibility, responsive design, security, environmental concerns and development standards. Then, we took things a step further by launching the Ethical Web Design Framework.

The framework was set of user-centric principles which ensured that every website we created met five core goals: Accessibility & Inclusion, Privacy & Security, Device-First Design, Development Best Practices & Sustainability, and Environmental Considerations. We expanded on and shared more about our own commitment to these goals in a downloadable PDF.

Introducing the Ethical Web Collective

Nearly three years since launching our Ethical Web Design Framework, our team decided to revisit our framework and start developing the next version. The result was a revamped and refreshed approach with a brand new name and website to complement the big change.

Ethical web design is an approach to creating digital spaces that take into account the moral rights that individuals have over their information and their ability to participate in those online spaces. Our Ethical Web Collective takes into the account the foundation of ethical web design to inform four principles which guide us in creating web projects. These principles are: Accessibility & Inclusion, Privacy & Security, Responsible Development, and Environmental Impact.

The “collective” aspect of our initiative is integral. We don’t want to just tell you how we’re working towards improvement, or even show you what we’re implementing to commit to these changes. Instead, we want other creators across the web to take action and join us in this journey.

If you want to read about our commitment and how you can take part in working towards these core goals, you can learn more about our Ethical Web Collective here.