eSSENTIAL Accessibility + Level Access Merger: Customer FAQs

UPDATED August 18, 2022

Q: What will the new company be called?

A: This is a work in progress! For the time being, please continue to consider eSSENTIAL Accessibility and Level Access as two brands gradually working to become one. Our communications and services will be delivered in the same way as they have been.

Q: Have the customer bases from both sides been communicated to?

A: Immediately after the internal company wide announcements, all customers will receive an email summary from eA or Level Access. We have crafted an informative messaging plan at a cadence that will allow customers to be kept up to date accordingly.

Q: Is there any impact to my platform and services?

A: Absolutely not. It’s business as usual for us and we do not expect any meaningful changes or disruption to your software access, level of service, or contract terms. Once the transaction closes, we’ll be working on how we can make your experience even better by offering you the best of what our organizations have to offer.

Q: What can I expect in the future with my services?

A: We’ll take a smart and sensible approach to this, but know that one of our core principles throughout will be, “If you like what you have, you’ll keep what you have.” Our goal will candidly be to unify the two companies’ value propositions into one that offers our customers immense value and impact. As the configuration of those offerings comes to market, we’ll communicate clearly to you around what’s available, how it compares to your current services and more. In many cases, we expect customers to be thrilled by new package introductions. In others, you’ll prefer the thing you already have in place. No matter what, we’ll be prepared for both scenarios and your preference will dictate the services offered to you. While we want to offer our customers new and compelling ways to make their digital platforms accessible, we will keep you at the center of what we do and ensure that what you want is what’s made available.

Q: Who is my main point of contact? 

A: Your current account management and customer success team will remain your point of contact for the foreseeable future. They are receiving active coaching to ensure that customers experience no disruption due to this transaction and will be well-versed on how to help you navigate the news. Should you experience any challenges or have any points of view you’d like to make known, please consider me a personal point of contact for you. I will be reviewing all emails from customers across the coming weeks and ensuring that we receive and act upon any important customer feedback provided.

Q: What are the biggest changes I should expect?

A: We’re bringing these two companies together because we see strong complementary strengths across our businesses, with huge potential to provide a simpler, more integrated and more directed solution for accessibility in the immediate future.  We are still in the early stages of exploring this future, but one opportunity we see is to unify our approach to testing. We believe that bringing together the best of what both our organizations currently do will help ensure that customers receive the most insightful, useful and cost-effective accessibility assessments the market has to offer. Longer term, we are keenly aware that technology has a sizable role to play in driving success, so we will analyze our technology roadmaps to identify areas we should take advantage of to offer our customers world-class tooling. As these shifts happen internally, you can expect to gradually see enhancements to our business offerings. We will be clear and communicative with any major changes we implement.

Q: Who will be leading the new organization?

A: As both companies have deep accessibility expertise and leadership, we’re discussing an organizational vision that will represent a healthy mix of eA and Level Access leaders. Tim Springer will serve as CEO; as most people reading this already know, Tim founded Level Access in 1997 and has dedicated his entire career to serving the community of people with disabilities. Mark Steele, Co-Founder and CEO at eA will become President of the combined company. The profound mission that we all stand for will continue to permeate all things we do, and our leadership team will be assembled around that pursuit.