simon Erdély
3 Best Practices for Enforceable Online Agreements
Online agreements have transformed how people make contracts, providing a simple, easy, and effective method for validating the intent of both parties. However, it’s not always so straightforward.
While it’s fairly easy to present an online agreement to users, making sure it’s legally binding is another story. One stipulation is that online agreements must provide verification so businesses can ensure their transactions are enforceable.
The Complicated Nature of Online Agreements
While online contracts provide many benefits to users, there are some caveats. For one, an online agreement must be properly drafted, which means confirming it uses the correct legal language and contains absolutely no ambiguous text.
All parties must be willing and prepared to sign while being made fully aware of the terms. Failure to secure proper consent can result in fraud, misrepresentation, and other legal liabilities being levied on you.
Agreements that involve parties that are unable to see each other face-to-face present unique challenges to enforcing contracts. In most cases, getting a digital signature from a user is as simple as a few clicks, but websites need to use the right online agreement to make sure they can enforce that contract.
How Do You Keep Online Agreements Enforceable?
Enforceable online agreements must be designed in compliance with government guidelines in order to be legitimized. Digital contracts can come in various forms, but most businesses rely on a simple layout called a clickwrap agreement, which prompts users to either accept or decline the stated terms.
Understanding what makes a clickwrap agreement enforceable is key to ensuring the validation of online agreements, which means having an agreement that a court would find legitimate.
The three best practices for keeping your agreements enforceable are screen design, reasonable notice, and documentation.
1. Screen Design
When they’re considering the authenticity of clickwrap agreements, courts will take into account the available accessibility features (if any) that ensure users are capable of reading and understanding the terms of an agreement before signing.
Therefore, it is important for agreements to feature well-designed interfaces that present information clearly without disruption. Courts generally require agreements to have simple, uncluttered screens, large, readable fonts and font sizes, and relevant action or button text that properly reflects the language used in the agreement.
2. Reasonable Notice
One of the biggest concerns courts have concerning the validity of an agreement is whether users have had reasonable time to meet its terms and that they are fully aware that they’ve agreed to the arrangement through a specific action, such as clicking a button or entering their name into a text field.
Reasonable notice is important, as it gives consumers the opportunity to read the terms before digitally signing a contract.
3. Documentation
Online agreements are only truly enforceable if they’ve been fully documented. Courts are more willing to work with companies that can provide proof that their contracts have been faithfully executed.
Documentation provides a trail for a third party to follow when disputes arise in a legal agreement. Having reliable tracking and reporting features is essential for making sure online agreements are enforceable over the long term.
The Transformative Power of CLMs
With the right tools, it’s possible to track who accepts online terms, when they were accepted, and take a screenshot of the event in real-time. Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) is a growing field that is transforming how businesses create and execute digital signatures.
CLM is perfect for professionals working in sales, legal, and procurement, empowering contracts by simplifying the entire process from start to finish. It allows anybody, no matter how advanced their technical expertise, to take advantage of the latest in digital signature software.
If you want to improve how your company approaches contracts without having to invest heavily in internal solutions, consider turning to a CLM provider that knows the review and approval process inside and out.
Create Enforceable Online Agreements with Klix
If your contract management lifecycle is outdated, rather than spending time and effort managing your own solutions, consider using a CLM designed and operated by industry experts waiting to give you all the support you need to succeed.
Malbek is changing the way contracts are done with AI-driven authoring software made to meet the demands of today’s businesses. Klix is Malbek’s clickwrap solution for businesses that want to get contracts right the first time.
It’s never been easier to design, upload, and share digital contracts. Easily create agreements in minutes with simplified drafting capabilities and automation services. Klix was designed with legal best practices in mind so you can protect yourself from costly litigation.
Find out for yourself how easy it is to create enforceable online agreements at the click of a button. If you want to see what Klix can do, request a demo today!
