Effective date: August 3, 2026
IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICE: THESE TERMS INCLUDE WARRANTY DISCLAIMERS, LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY, AN AGREEMENT TO INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION, AND A CLASS-ACTION AND JURY-TRIAL WAIVER, SUBJECT TO APPLICABLE LAW. SECTION 24 EXPLAINS ARBITRATION, ITS EXCEPTIONS, AND YOUR 30-DAY RIGHT TO OPT OUT. PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY. BY ACCESSING OR USING THE WEBSITE, OR BY CLICKING TO ACCEPT WHERE PROMPTED, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS.
These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern access to and use of www.designalttab.com, its associated pages and content, and any forms, subscriptions, portals, or online features that expressly incorporate these Terms (collectively, the "Website"). The Website is operated by Design ALT + TAB ("Company," "we," "us," or "our"), a global architecture and design practice headquartered in Houston, Texas. "You" means the person using the Website and, where that person is authorized to accept these Terms for an organization, that organization.
By accessing or using the Website, by clicking to accept these Terms where prompted (including when you submit the contact form, subscribe, request access to project materials or a client portal, apply for a position, or create credentials), or by otherwise indicating assent in a manner recognized by applicable law, you agree to be bound by these Terms and acknowledge that the Privacy Policy describes our personal-information practices. Where applicable law requires a particular form of assent for a specific provision, including the arbitration agreement in Section 24, that provision binds you to the fullest extent such assent has been given, and the remainder of these Terms continues to govern your use of the Website. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use the Website. Privacy rights and legally required disclosures remain available without acceptance of these Terms.
You must be at least 18 and have legal capacity to accept these Terms and submit business inquiries, unless we expressly permit a particular interaction under appropriate procedures. If acting for an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind it to these Website Terms. If you do not have that authority, you are personally bound by these Terms with respect to your own access to and use of the Website, and you remain responsible for your own conduct.
These Terms govern the Website, not the substantive terms of an architectural, interior-design, landscape, furniture-design, fabrication, construction-coordination, consulting, employment, or other separately documented engagement. Professional services are provided only under a written services agreement signed by the appropriate Company entity and the client, which defines the scope of services, fees, schedule, standard of care, ownership and use of instruments of service, insurance, and allocation of risk. Sending a form, receiving an automated confirmation, being introduced to a designer, scheduling a conversation, visiting a studio, or receiving a proposal does not by itself create an engagement, an architect-client or designer-client relationship, a commitment to provide services, exclusivity, a fee entitlement, a fiduciary relationship, or an obligation to proceed.
A separately executed agreement controls its own subject matter over conflicting Website language. Specific online terms accepted for a particular feature control that feature to the extent of a conflict. Nothing here modifies a services agreement, nondisclosure agreement, consultant or fabricator agreement, purchase order, competition rules, license, or legally required disclosure without the modification procedure that document or applicable law requires. These Terms do not import Website arbitration into a separate engagement that has its own dispute terms.
Our Privacy Policy separately explains personal-information practices. It is not an unrestricted data-use license, and acceptance of these Terms does not replace cookie consent, marketing consent, recruiting authorizations, or other legally required choices. Mandatory law controls any conflict, including concerning privacy, consumer protection, professional licensing and practice, building and safety codes, accessibility, and statutory remedies.
Company's global headquarters is in Houston, Texas. The practice works across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and Asia Pacific through regional studios, affiliated entities, locally registered professionals, and independent collaborators. A regional studio may be a separately organized legal entity. The Company identified in Section 1 is the contracting Website operator; a reference to "our" studios, teams, people, collaborators, or projects does not make every affiliate, consultant, engineer, contractor, fabricator, or collaborator a party to these Terms or an agent of the Website operator.
"Protected Parties" means Company, its parents, subsidiaries, affiliated entities, and regional studios, their respective predecessors, successors, and assigns, and each of their respective members, partners, shareholders, directors, officers, managers, employees, licensed professionals, agents, representatives, consultants, advisers, insurers, licensors, contractors, and service providers, solely in their relevant capacities concerning the Website. The definition gives intended beneficiaries the protections expressly provided here; it does not make them all contracting parties or establish agency, joint liability, or common ownership of every studio or project mentioned.
No parent, affiliate, studio, member, manager, shareholder, officer, employee, or individual professional becomes liable for another entity's obligations, or guarantees a design, project, product, or Website obligation, merely because of shared branding, personnel, addresses, resources, ownership, a professional title, or a Website reference. Recourse for a contractual obligation is against the entity that expressly undertakes it in a binding agreement, subject to that agreement and applicable law. There is no personal recourse based solely on status or office. This provision does not release a person's own actionable wrongdoing, limit a licensed professional's own nonwaivable responsibility under applicable law, defeat a signed guarantee, or override nonwaivable law.
The Website describes our practice, capabilities, philosophy, people, culture, and selected projects for general informational purposes. It is not a proposal, bid, quotation, certification, or offer to provide services on particular terms, and it is not a representation that a service, design, product, person, or team is available for a particular project, place, or time. Capabilities described on the Website may be provided by different Company entities, by locally registered professionals, or in collaboration with independent consultants, depending on the jurisdiction and the project.
The Website does not provide architectural, engineering, interior-design, landscape, structural, mechanical, code-compliance, accessibility, fire- and life-safety, environmental, cost, scheduling, legal, tax, real-estate, or other professional advice, and nothing on it is an instrument of service for any project. Company does not undertake an architect-client, designer-client, professional, fiduciary, or advisory relationship, and no Company professional becomes architect, designer, or engineer of record for any project, solely through Website use or an inquiry. Obtain advice from a professional licensed in the relevant jurisdiction and engaged for your project before relying on any design, technical, or regulatory matter. Nothing here disclaims a duty that arises under a separate agreement or mandatory law.
Non-reliance. You acknowledge and agree that you are not relying, and will not rely, on any Website content, image, rendering, drawing, description, estimate, performance figure, or communication made through the Website in deciding whether to engage any Company entity, purchase a product, begin or alter construction, apply for a permit or approval, or enter into any other relationship with any Company entity, and that any such decision will be based solely on the applicable signed agreement, the instruments of service issued or sealed for your project, legally required disclosures, and your own independent investigation and professional advice. This acknowledgement is a material inducement to our making the Website available, applies to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, and does not override a representation expressly made in a signed definitive agreement.
Professional registration. Architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and related professions are regulated, and the rules differ by jurisdiction. Our professionals hold registrations in specific jurisdictions, and Company offers regulated services only where, and through the persons and entities through which, it is lawfully permitted to do so, including in association with locally registered architects, engineers, and other professionals where required. A description of our capabilities, a regional contact, or a project in a particular country is not a representation that Company or any individual is registered, licensed, or authorized to practice in every jurisdiction mentioned. Information about the registration status of the firm and its professionals in a particular jurisdiction is available on request. No disclaimer excuses an unlawful statement about professional status or a materially false or misleading statement.
Projects shown on the Website may be completed, under construction, in design, proposed, competition or concept work, research, unbuilt, or executed in collaboration with or under the direction of others, and may include work undertaken by individuals before joining Company. A project reference does not establish that Company was architect or designer of record, that it performed every discipline shown, that the project was built as depicted, or that it continues in the depicted form. Where required, project credits, collaborators, photographers, and roles are identified; an omitted or inaccurate credit is unintentional and should be reported under Section 28.
Renderings, visualizations, animations, models, photographs, drawings, plans, diagrams, and material samples shown on the Website are illustrative. They may be conceptual, digitally enhanced, staged, composite, or representative of a phase or option that was not built. Furnishings, finishes, landscape, lighting, people, vehicles, surroundings, and context may be shown for illustration only. Website materials are not construction documents, permit sets, specifications, record drawings, engineering reports, accessibility or code certifications, surveys, or warranties of appearance, performance, cost, or schedule.
Dimensions, areas, heights, capacities, quantities, performance figures, costs, schedules, and sustainability or environmental metrics stated on the Website are approximate, project-specific, and based on assumptions and measurement conventions that may differ from yours; they are not guarantees for another project. You must not use Website materials for design, construction, fabrication, permitting, procurement, appraisal, or any other professional purpose. Reproduction of a design, detail, or object shown on the Website in another building, interior, landscape, or product is prohibited by Section 10 and may infringe the rights of Company, its clients, or its collaborators.
Statements about sustainability, material sourcing, climate performance, durability, inclusion, community benefit, or impact describe the stated practices, intentions, or outcomes of particular projects in context. They are not a guarantee that any project will achieve a particular certification, rating, or result, and they do not replace any specific contractual or regulatory commitment.
Company designs, prototypes, and in some cases produces or arranges fabrication of furniture, joinery, lighting, and other objects. Website descriptions, images, dimensions, materials, finishes, and any pricing of a product are for information only and are not an offer, quotation, warranty, or representation of availability. Many pieces are made to order, prototyped, limited, project-specific, or produced by independent fabricators, and natural materials vary in color, grain, and texture. A product is supplied, if at all, only under a separate written quotation, purchase order, or sales agreement with the Company entity or fabricator identified in it, which governs price, specifications, lead times, delivery, installation, returns, warranties, and liability.
Unless a separate written agreement expressly provides otherwise, no warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, safety certification, flammability or emissions compliance, load rating, or suitability for a particular environment arises from a Website description. Any legally required product-safety, consumer, or warranty rights in the applicable jurisdiction remain as the law provides. Do not use a product shown on the Website in a manner inconsistent with the written instructions supplied with it.
Company may offer construction-phase services such as design coordination, site observation, review of submittals, and liaison with contractors, consultants, fabricators, and authorities, in each case solely as defined in a signed services agreement. Company is not a general contractor, construction manager, or builder unless a signed agreement expressly provides so, and nothing on the Website makes Company responsible for construction means, methods, techniques, sequences, procedures, site-safety programs, or the acts or omissions of contractors, subcontractors, fabricators, or suppliers. Those responsibilities rest with the parties to whom the applicable construction documents assign them.
Building codes, zoning, permitting, accessibility, fire, environmental, heritage, and other requirements vary by place and change over time. Website content does not state that any design or product complies with the requirements applicable to your project, and it is not a substitute for permits, inspections, approvals, and sealed documents from professionals licensed in the relevant jurisdiction. Nothing on the Website may be used to begin, alter, or continue construction.
We are not obligated to review, acknowledge, respond to, retain, return, or act on a request for proposal, project invitation, competition entry, design concept, site, product idea, business proposal, or other submission received through the Website. We may decline, pause, or end discussions, pursue other opportunities, and develop similar concepts independently, subject to applicable law and any signed agreement. No exclusivity, fee, commission, reimbursement, ownership right, credit, or confidentiality obligation is created merely by submitting material or identifying it as confidential. Design is iterative and ideas recur; you acknowledge that Company and its affiliates may already be developing, or may in the future independently develop, concepts, forms, details, or products similar to those you submit, and you waive any claim arising solely from that similarity.
Do not submit trade secrets, confidential site, financial, or security information, personal information about building occupants, third-party confidential drawings, or proprietary technology through the general Website. Obtain an appropriate signed confidentiality agreement and approved delivery channel first. A confidentiality legend added unilaterally to an unsolicited message does not by itself amend these Terms. This does not authorize misappropriation, eliminate privacy duties, or override confidentiality obligations arising independently of the submission.
Subject to those limits, you authorize us to receive, copy, route, and review a submission with personnel, relevant affiliates and regional studios, consultants, and advisers as reasonably necessary to evaluate and respond to it. This is not a transfer of ownership in your project, site, business, or materials. Section 13 separately governs feedback and other Website submissions.
A careers or culture page, expression of interest, application, portfolio submission, interview, discussion, or acknowledgement is not an offer of employment, a promise of visa sponsorship or relocation, or a guarantee that a position exists or remains available. Any employment or internship is with the Company entity or regional studio identified in the applicable offer and employment documents, which may differ from the Website operator. Authorized employment terms and the mandatory law of the place of work control.
Submit only portfolio material you have the right to share, credit collaborators and prior employers accurately, and remove confidential client information before submitting. Application materials are handled as described in the Privacy Policy. Applications are considered without regard to characteristics protected by applicable law.
The Website and its text, design, layouts, compilation, software, graphics, photography, video, renderings, visualizations, drawings, plans, models, specifications, furniture and product designs, marks, names, and other materials are owned by Company or its licensors (including clients, photographers, and collaborators) and are protected by copyright, trademark, design, patent, and other intellectual-property laws, including protection for architectural works and technical drawings. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. The Design ALT + TAB name and logo, the names of our projects and products, and all related names, designs, slogans, and trade dress are trademarks of Company or its licensors, whether or not registered, and may not be used without prior written permission. Display of third-party content does not transfer any rights to you.
Subject to these Terms, Company grants you a limited, revocable, nonexclusive, nontransferable license to view public Website content and make reasonable copies solely for your personal information or your organization's internal evaluation of a potential relationship with us. Keep all proprietary notices and credits intact. This license excludes commercial republication, resale, sublicensing, use in another party's proposal, portfolio, offering, or marketing materials, and any design, construction, fabrication, or development use of drawings, plans, renderings, details, or concepts.
You may not reproduce, modify, translate, distribute, publicly display, create derivative works from, or commercially exploit protected content beyond that permission without the applicable rights holder's written consent, except where nonwaivable law permits. You may not use the Design ALT + TAB name or a Company mark in advertising, domain names, metatags, social accounts, proposals, or statements implying endorsement, authorship, or affiliation without authorization. No permission is granted to register confusingly similar intellectual-property rights. Unauthorized use of Website materials may violate copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, and other laws, and constructing a building or producing an object based on a protected design shown on the Website is an infringement regardless of the medium in which the design was copied. You acknowledge that a breach of this Section 10 or Section 11 may cause irreparable harm for which monetary damages would be an inadequate remedy, and that Company and the applicable rights holder may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in addition to any other available remedy.
You may not scrape, harvest, systematically download, mirror, or extract Website content or contact information; build a competing database or image library; evade access limits; or use the Website or protected materials to train, fine-tune, validate, prompt, or populate artificial-intelligence models or commercial retrieval systems, including generative image, video, three-dimensional, or design models, without our written authorization, except as applicable nonwaivable law permits. You may not use automated tools to misrepresent Company, generate fraudulent inquiries, produce derivative designs or outputs "in the style of" our work, or reproduce project designs for another building, interior, or product. Company expressly reserves all rights in Website content for purposes of text and data mining, machine learning, and artificial-intelligence training and retrieval, including under Article 4(3) of Directive (EU) 2019/790 and any equivalent law, and will express that reservation in machine-readable form where feasible. Access to the Website by an automated agent, crawler, or artificial-intelligence system constitutes acceptance of these Terms by the person or entity that deploys or directs it.
Public search engines may index public pages in compliance with applicable robots directives, reasonable technical restrictions, and a revocable permission limited to ordinary search results. This is not permission for model training, bulk republication, image-library compilation, or extraction of restricted material. Lawful quotation, criticism, accessibility tools, and other protected uses remain subject to applicable law rather than being prohibited solely because a tool is involved.
You may create an ordinary link to a public page that does not misrepresent affiliation, frame the Website deceptively, conceal the source, or imply our endorsement. Company may withdraw a permission it has granted and may block technically harmful or unauthorized access, subject to law.
Use the Website only for lawful, authorized purposes. You must not introduce malware; test or bypass security without written authorization; interfere with service; overload infrastructure; access another user's information; evade authentication; use false identities; impersonate Company, a studio, or a representative; misrepresent a Company design as your own; send spam; make fraudulent submissions; infringe intellectual property; disclose information unlawfully; or violate applicable sanctions, export controls, privacy, anti-discrimination, or other law.
Do not submit unlawful threats, abusive material, defamatory statements, or material you have no right to provide. Do not use Website contact information for harassment, phishing, fraudulent payment requests, or unauthorized mass solicitation. Do not assist another person in prohibited conduct. These restrictions do not prohibit lawful reviews, criticism, reports to authorities or licensing boards, whistleblowing, protected concerted activity, or the exercise of a statutory right.
Company may investigate suspected misuse, preserve relevant records, restrict access, and cooperate with appropriate authorities as permitted by law and the Privacy Policy. This does not create a general duty to monitor all communications or a representation that monitoring will detect every misuse.
You are responsible for the accuracy, legality, and authorization of information you submit and for obtaining necessary permissions from other rights holders, including the owners of any drawings, photographs, or site information you share. Company may remove, decline, or restrict a submission where appropriate, subject to applicable law and any separate agreement. We do not undertake to publish, credit, return, or compensate a submission simply because it was received. You represent and warrant that your submissions are accurate and not misleading, do not contain malicious code, and do not violate any law or any third party's rights.
For ordinary inquiries and project materials, you grant Company and its affiliates a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license, sublicensable to their service providers, consultants, and advisers, to receive, store, reproduce, process, route, analyze (including with automated or AI-assisted tools), evaluate, and respond to them, and to use them for compliance, security, recordkeeping, and dispute-resolution purposes, in each case subject to the Privacy Policy, applicable confidentiality obligations, and law. You retain ownership of your original materials. No general Website license gives Company an unrestricted right to disclose personal information, use another person's trade secrets, or exploit confidential project materials.
If you voluntarily provide nonconfidential suggestions or feedback specifically about our Website, services, or business processes, you grant Company a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, nonexclusive, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free license to use and incorporate that feedback without compensation or attribution, to the extent you have the right to grant it and the law permits. This feedback license excludes personal information as such, job-application materials and portfolios, confidential project or business proposals, and material governed by a separate agreement.
Access to restricted content, client portals, project extranets, building-information-model environments, file-transfer tools, or data rooms is by permission, may be limited or revoked for lawful reasons, and may require separate terms. Keep credentials confidential; do not share, resell, or transfer access; and notify us promptly of suspected compromise. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your credentials until you notify us of a suspected compromise, except to the extent the activity results from Company's failure to meet its legally required security obligations.
Access to project materials through a portal does not grant any right in instruments of service, designs, or models beyond those granted by the governing services agreement, and does not establish an engagement, an approval, or a commitment. Separate confidentiality, licensing, and access terms control where applicable. No upload or download creates a safe storage or backup service. Maintain appropriate copies of your own records, without copying material you are not authorized to retain. Company may suspend access to address security, legal, or compliance concerns, subject to its separate obligations.
The Website may contain links, embedded services, publications, awards, references, or materials supplied by independent parties, including clients, collaborators, consultants, fabricators, photographers, publishers, and the platforms that host our Website and forms. A link or reference is not adoption of every statement or endorsement of the third party. Separate terms and notices may apply. Company is not responsible for an independent party's acts solely because its content or service is accessible through the Website, but this does not exclude liability imposed by law for Company's own conduct.
External articles, awards, and data may be delayed, incomplete, or superseded. An automated assistant, estimate, calculator, translation, scheduling tool, or generated summary, if offered, may contain errors and is not authorized to negotiate, scope or price services, approve a design, waive requirements, or bind any Company entity unless an expressly identified process lawfully provides otherwise. Confirm important information with an authorized person and the applicable signed documents.
You agree that communications concerning Website features you request may be provided electronically where lawful. This does not replace a statutory electronic-record consent, required delivery method, signed services agreement, or separate agreement. A typed name, click, or electronic acknowledgement has the effect assigned by applicable law and the relevant acceptance process; a general contact message is not automatically a signature on an engagement or an approval of a design.
Providing contact details permits us to respond to the inquiry within applicable law. It does not itself constitute consent to automated marketing, prerecorded calls, marketing texts, or unrelated uses requiring separate consent. Marketing preferences are addressed in the Privacy Policy and any separately accepted program terms. We may send legally permitted operational, security, and directly requested communications despite a marketing unsubscribe.
Do not use a general Website form for an emergency, an imminent safety issue on a site, a notice under a services or construction agreement, a claim notice, a change order, a stop-work or safety notice, or any other time-sensitive contractual delivery unless the controlling agreement or law designates it for that purpose. This restriction does not prevent valid privacy requests, arbitration opt-outs, or dispute notices through the methods these Terms expressly provide.
Fraudsters may impersonate Company personnel or studios, spoof email addresses, create look-alike websites, intercept communications, or send false invoices, fee requests, or payment instructions, including requests to redirect fee payments or fabrication deposits to new bank accounts. A logo, familiar name, apparently correct domain, copied email thread, or automated confirmation is not sufficient verification of authenticity.
Before sending funds or acting on a change to banking or payment instructions, independently verify the instructions with a known, authorized representative using a previously established telephone number or another independently verified channel. Do not rely on the contact details included in the disputed message. Never send passwords or financial-account credentials through a general Website form. Contact Company promptly about suspected impersonation and contact your financial institution immediately after a suspected fraudulent transfer.
These precautions do not guarantee that fraud can be prevented, create an escrow or payment-protection service, or release Company from responsibility imposed by law for its own acts or omissions. Separate engagement and purchase documents control authorized payment procedures.
Subject to applicable law and separate obligations, Company may modify, correct, update, restrict, suspend, or discontinue all or part of the Website or its features, temporarily or permanently, for operational, commercial, security, compliance, or other legitimate reasons. No minimum availability, response time, storage period, or continued feature is promised unless expressly stated in a binding agreement. Company has no obligation to retain, back up, or return content or data submitted through the Website except as required by applicable law or a separate agreement.
Events outside reasonable control, such as internet or utility failures, cyber incidents, severe weather, war, government action, labor disruption, and supplier failures, may interrupt the Website. This provision does not expand a force-majeure defense under a separate engagement or eliminate legally required security, notice, mitigation, or performance obligations.
We may terminate a Website permission for a material breach or other lawful reason. Upon termination, unauthorized use must stop, and any required return or deletion of restricted material remains subject to the applicable agreement and law. Provisions intended to survive, including ownership, permitted feedback licenses, accrued obligations, liability limits, dispute provisions, and statutory-rights protections, survive to the extent lawful.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE WEBSITE AND ITS CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, AVAILABILITY, OR FREEDOM FROM HARMFUL CODE, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT A WARRANTY CANNOT LAWFULLY BE DISCLAIMED.
The Protected Parties do not promise that the Website is error-free, current in every respect, uninterrupted, secure against every threat, or suitable for a particular project or purpose. Information may contain errors or omissions and may change. Any reliance you place on the Website or its content is at your own risk, and you assume full responsibility for any loss or damage to your devices, systems, or data resulting from Website use or from downloading any material. No informal Website statement or response enlarges these Website warranties unless an authorized binding agreement expressly does so.
These disclaimers concern Website use. They do not override express obligations or the standard of care in signed services agreements, legally required disclosures, mandatory warranties, consumer guarantees, privacy or security duties, or liability that cannot lawfully be disclaimed. They do not authorize fraud or misleading statements.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE PROTECTED PARTIES WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR LOST PROFITS, LOST OPPORTUNITIES, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF GOODWILL, OR LOSS OF DATA ARISING OUT OF THE WEBSITE OR THESE TERMS, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING ORDINARY NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF ADVISED THAT SUCH DAMAGES WERE POSSIBLE.
SUBJECT TO THE EXCLUSIONS BELOW, THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF THE PROTECTED PARTIES FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM THE WEBSITE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF US $100 AND THE AMOUNT YOU PAID COMPANY SPECIFICALLY FOR USE OF THE WEBSITE FEATURE GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM DURING THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY.
The cap is a Website-use allocation of risk, not a limit on obligations concerning professional fees, design or construction-phase services, product purchases, deposits, or other separate engagements. Those amounts are not Website-use fees and are governed by their own documents and applicable law. The cap does not itself create an entitlement to recover $100.
The exclusions and cap do not apply to the extent applicable law prohibits their application, including, where and to the extent so prohibited, to liability for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, gross negligence, willful misconduct, or death or personal injury, or to any other liability or remedy that cannot legally be limited. They do not waive statutory privacy rights, required data-security obligations, professional-licensing protections, consumer-protection rights, or any other nonwaivable protection. Where a jurisdiction limits a disclaimer, the lawful narrower limit applies. These terms allocate ordinary Website risk; they are not a release of unknown statutory claims or independently actionable misconduct.
The limitations in this Section 20 apply to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, apply regardless of the form of action or legal theory and even if any limited remedy fails of its essential purpose, and reflect a reasonable allocation of risk that is an essential basis of the bargain between you and Company, without which Company would not make the Website available. Each Protected Party may rely on and enforce this Section 20. The aggregate cap applies to all Protected Parties collectively, not to each separately, and the same loss may not be recovered more than once by recharacterizing it under a different legal theory.
To the extent permitted by law, you will indemnify and hold harmless the Protected Parties from third-party claims, resulting damages, and reasonable legal costs to the extent caused by your access to or use of the Website in violation of law or these Terms, your breach of these Terms, your infringement or violation of another person's rights (including unauthorized use or reproduction of a design shown on the Website), your negligent or wrongful acts or omissions in connection with the Website, or material you submit without required authority. This does not require indemnification for a Protected Party's own negligence, fraud, gross negligence, willful misconduct, or breach of law, and does not apply to lawful reviews, privacy requests, or protected reports to authorities.
Company will give reasonably prompt notice of a claim, with delayed notice excusing your obligation only to the extent of material prejudice. Company may, at its election, control the defense and settlement of an indemnified claim with counsel of its choosing at your reasonable expense, or may permit you to assume the defense with qualified counsel reasonably acceptable to Company, in which case Company may participate with its own counsel at its own expense (or at your expense where an actual conflict of interest exists). You will provide reasonable cooperation at your expense. You may not settle a claim in a manner that admits wrongdoing by, imposes a nonmonetary obligation on, or fails to unconditionally release a Protected Party without that Protected Party's prior written consent. Company will not settle an indemnified claim in a manner that imposes on you a monetary obligation beyond the scope of your indemnity without your consent, not to be unreasonably withheld.
Nothing in these Terms waives a right or remedy that applicable law prohibits waiving or makes conditional on procedures not satisfied here. In particular, these Terms do not waive substantive protections under applicable privacy, data-security, professional-licensing, consumer-protection, building-safety, accessibility, or employment law, or governmental enforcement authority. A statutory right does not become waivable merely because we describe Website use as voluntary.
You may report concerns to regulators, professional licensing boards, law enforcement, or another authorized body and participate in protected investigations without notifying or obtaining permission from Company. Nothing prohibits truthful reviews or lawful criticism. No provision restricts legally protected disclosures or requires disclosure of privileged communications.
We support equal opportunity and compliance with applicable anti-discrimination and accessibility requirements, in our workplaces, on our Website, and in the places we design. Contact Company regarding an accessible format or difficulty using a feature. General marketing language does not reduce any specific accommodation or accessibility obligation that applies.
Subject to nonwaivable protections, these Terms and Website-related disputes are governed by Texas law, excluding conflict-of-laws rules that would select another jurisdiction's law. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the arbitration agreement in Section 24. This choice does not deprive a consumer of mandatory protections applicable in the consumer's home jurisdiction.
For a dispute that may properly proceed in court rather than arbitration, the parties submit to the state courts located in Harris County, Texas, or the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, as appropriate, except where mandatory law or Section 24 requires or permits another forum. Statutory venue rules, available small-claims rights, and nonwaivable consumer forum rights remain intact. Subject to those exceptions, you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts and waive any objection based on improper venue or inconvenient forum.
The Website is administered from the United States and is intended for a global audience. Content may not be appropriate or available in every jurisdiction, and the services described may be provided in a particular place only through appropriately registered persons and entities under separate agreements. Nothing on the Website is an offer to provide regulated professional services in a jurisdiction where Company is not authorized to provide them. You must comply with applicable laws governing your use, including relevant sanctions and export controls. Nothing here shifts Company's independent legal compliance obligations to you or requires use prohibited in your location. Where you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction that grants nonwaivable consumer rights, nothing in these Terms limits those rights or restricts your access to the courts of your home jurisdiction where that law so provides.
To the extent these Terms form an enforceable agreement between us, you and Company agree that disputes arising from the Website, these Terms, or Website-related communications will be resolved by binding individual arbitration rather than in court, except as provided below. The agreement covers contract, tort, statutory, and other legal theories within that scope and survives termination. It does not govern unrelated disputes or change the dispute provisions in a separate services, purchase, employment, consultant, or other agreement.
A Protected Party may invoke this section for a dispute arising from its relevant Website activities to the extent applicable third-party-beneficiary or other law permits, and is bound by the same applicable obligations when doing so. This provision does not create consent where contract-formation requirements were not met.
Before filing a covered arbitration or any permitted court action (other than a small-claims action or a request for urgent relief), the claimant must first send a written dispute notice identifying the claimant, relevant website, facts, requested relief, and a reasonable means of contact. The notice must be individualized to the claimant and personally signed by the claimant (in addition to any counsel); a form notice covering multiple claimants does not satisfy this requirement. Notices to Company may be sent to contact@designalttab.com with "Design ALT + TAB - Dispute Notice" in the subject line, or by mail under Section 28. Company will use the contact information you provide for its notice. The parties will attempt a good-faith resolution for 30 days after receipt, and applicable contractual limitations periods are tolled during that period to the extent permitted by law. Completion of this process is a condition precedent to initiating arbitration or litigation, and either party may ask a court or the arbitrator to stay or dismiss a proceeding commenced without it.
This process does not require disclosure of privileged material, an in-person conference, or payment, and does not prevent protective filing to avoid a statutory deadline, urgent relief, small-claims proceedings, privacy requests, or regulator complaints. A technical defect that does not materially impair resolution will not forfeit a claim.
Arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") before one neutral arbitrator. Its Consumer Arbitration Rules and required consumer due-process protections apply whenever AAA determines the relationship is a consumer relationship; otherwise its Commercial Arbitration Rules apply. The applicable published AAA rules, including the AAA Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules and associated fee schedules, govern, together with the additional procedures in Section 24.7. Rules and filing information are available from AAA at www.adr.org or by contacting AAA.
For a consumer, hearings may take place by remote means, on documents where appropriate, or in a reasonably convenient location consistent with AAA rules and mandatory law. Houston is not a mandatory in-person hearing location for a consumer. For a nonconsumer business dispute, the legal seat is Houston, Texas, unless agreed otherwise. The arbitrator may award the individual relief available under applicable law, including applicable statutory remedies and fees, subject only to enforceable limits. The arbitrator must follow applicable substantive law and these Terms, may award relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by that party's individual claim, and will issue a reasoned written decision. Discovery will be limited to what is reasonably necessary and proportionate to the claims, as determined by the arbitrator. The parties will keep the existence, content, and result of the arbitration confidential except as needed to enforce or challenge an award, to the extent required by law, or as both parties agree.
Company will pay the fees and costs required of a business by the applicable AAA rules, consumer standards, and law. A consumer will not pay more in required initial forum fees than the lesser of the applicable AAA consumer filing amount and the filing fee to begin the comparable claim in the consumer's local court; Company will pay the balance required to give effect to that protection. Each party bears its own attorneys' fees unless applicable law or an enforceable agreement permits an award. A consumer is not required to reimburse Company's arbitration costs merely for losing. If the arbitrator finds that a claim, counterclaim, or the relief sought was frivolous or asserted for an improper purpose under the standard of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b), the arbitrator may reallocate fees and costs to the extent permitted by the applicable AAA rules and law.
If AAA is unavailable or declines administration, the parties may agree on a qualified alternative with equivalent required protections. If they cannot agree, the dispute may proceed in a competent court under Section 23, subject to mandatory law. Company may not use its own failure to pay required fees or satisfy mandatory provider requirements to force a less protective forum.
Either party may bring an eligible individual claim in small-claims court. Either may seek temporary, preliminary, or permanent injunctive or other equitable relief from a competent court to protect intellectual property, confidential information, or systems, including against unauthorized access, scraping, or misuse of the Website or unauthorized reproduction of a design, without waiving arbitration of arbitrable merits. Either may report a matter to a regulator or licensing board. Claims that cannot lawfully be arbitrated are excluded.
A court, not the arbitrator, decides whether an agreement was formed, whether a person is bound, and the validity and enforceability of the class-action waiver in Section 24.5. All other disputes concerning the interpretation, applicability, scope, or enforceability of this Section 24, including whether a particular claim is arbitrable, are delegated to and will be decided exclusively by the arbitrator to the fullest extent permitted by law. This allocation does not override a court's nondelegable authority.
TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, YOU AND COMPANY AGREE TO BRING COVERED CLAIMS ONLY IN YOUR RESPECTIVE INDIVIDUAL CAPACITIES, NOT AS A CLASS REPRESENTATIVE OR CLASS MEMBER IN A CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. NO ARBITRATOR MAY CONDUCT A CLASS ARBITRATION WITHOUT BOTH PARTIES' EXPRESS WRITTEN AGREEMENT AFTER THE DISPUTE ARISES. BY AGREEING TO ARBITRATION, BOTH PARTIES WAIVE A JURY TRIAL FOR ARBITRABLE CLAIMS.
This does not prohibit administrative coordination or batching authorized by applicable AAA rules or Section 24.7, provided that each claimant's claim remains individual; batching does not merge the merits of separate claims, create a class, collective, consolidated, or representative adjudication, or authorize relief for anyone other than the individual claimant. It also does not prohibit an authorized regulator proceeding or relief that cannot lawfully be waived. Public injunctive relief is not waived: if it cannot be arbitrated, it may be pursued in court, with any lawful stay of overlapping issues. A court will sever a nonarbitrable claim or remedy where lawful. If the individual-proceeding restriction is unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim proceeds in court rather than class arbitration, while arbitrable claims remain subject to this section to the extent lawful.
For a court claim outside arbitration, each party also knowingly waives trial by jury to the extent applicable law permits and legally sufficient assent exists. No jury waiver applies where prohibited or where a required waiver procedure has not been satisfied.
You may opt out of this entire Section 24, including its arbitration, class-action, and jury-trial waivers, within 30 days after first accepting these Terms, by emailing contact@designalttab.com with "Design ALT + TAB - Arbitration Opt-Out" in the subject line or mailing notice under Section 28. Include your name, contact information, relevant website, approximate acceptance date, and a clear statement that you opt out. No lawyer, account, reason, or fee is required. Company will confirm receipt. A valid opt-out binds both you and Company, does not affect your other Website rights, and leaves the remainder of these Terms in effect.
If 25 or more dispute notices or arbitration demands raising similar claims against Company are submitted within a 180-day period by or with the assistance of the same, affiliated, or coordinated counsel (a "Coordinated Filing"), the following procedures apply in addition to the AAA Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules, to the extent permitted by law and consistent with AAA's consumer due-process standards. (a) Each claimant must individually satisfy Section 24.2. (b) AAA may group individual demands into administrative batches of up to 100 for coordinated scheduling and case management, to the extent consistent with its applicable rules. Claims within a batch remain individual proceedings. AAA's applicable published rules and fee schedules govern the number of arbitrators, administrative structure, filing and case-management procedures, and fees; nothing in these Terms requires AAA to impose a single fee or consolidate claims on the merits. (c) After the first administrative batch is finally resolved, the parties will participate in a 60-day global mediation of the remaining claims, with the mediator's fees paid by Company; applicable limitations periods are tolled from submission of a compliant dispute notice until the conclusion of that mediation. (d) No award or merits determination in one individual claim binds a claimant in another claim except to the extent ordinary principles of preclusion lawfully apply, and every claimant retains the right to be heard on that claimant's own claim. (e) If a court determines that this Section 24.7 is unenforceable as to a particular claim, the remainder of this Section 24 continues to apply to that claim.
We may revise these Terms prospectively by posting an updated version and effective date and giving legally required notice. For a material change, we provide notice appropriate to the relationship and obtain renewed assent where required. To the extent permitted by law, your continued use of the Website after the effective date of a revised version constitutes acceptance of the revision, except as provided below for changes to Section 24. Posting alone does not retroactively change accrued rights or establish acceptance of a new arbitration agreement. A dispute is governed by the enforceable version applicable when the relevant claim arose, except as the parties otherwise validly agree.
A material change to arbitration will not apply to a dispute already known to either party. For later disputes, a material arbitration change requires any legally necessary notice and assent, and we provide a new 30-day opportunity to opt out of the changed Section 24. Absent valid agreement to a change, the last enforceable agreement, if any, continues to govern.
To the extent applicable law permits, a claim solely for breach of these Website Terms must be commenced within two years after it accrues under the governing law. This provision does not shorten a statutory period that cannot lawfully be shortened, change a statutory discovery or tolling rule, apply to personal injury or privacy, security, discrimination, fraud, or other statutory claims, or modify a period under a separate services, purchase, or other agreement, including any statute of limitations or repose applicable to design or construction claims. It does not extend a shorter deadline otherwise imposed by law. Any applicable tolling under Section 24 is preserved.
These Terms constitute the agreement concerning their Website subject matter, together with additional validly accepted feature-specific terms, but do not supersede separate agreements as described in Section 2. No waiver is effective merely through delay or a single failure to enforce. A waiver must be made by an authorized representative and applies only to its stated scope.
Company may assign these Terms as part of a lawful merger, reorganization, or transfer of the Website or relevant business, subject to any required notice and without reducing nonwaivable rights or releasing accrued liabilities by unilateral declaration. You may not transfer Website credentials, permissions, or these Terms without Company's written consent, except where applicable law permits. A transfer does not override the Privacy Policy or data-transfer restrictions.
If a provision is invalid, it will be severed or narrowed only to the extent a court may lawfully do so, and the remaining provisions continue in effect. Section 24 contains specific rules for invalid arbitration provisions. The Protected Parties are intended beneficiaries of provisions expressly protecting them, but no other third-party rights are created unless required by law.
Nothing creates a partnership, joint venture, employment relationship, agency, fiduciary relationship, or authority to bind another party merely through Website use. Headings aid navigation and do not limit substance. "Including" is illustrative, not exclusive. Contract notices follow Section 28 or the specific section concerned; ordinary electronic communications are not consent to formal service of process.
No rule of construction requiring interpretation against the drafting party applies to these Terms. An electronic acceptance of these Terms, including a click or typed name where prompted, has the same effect as a handwritten signature under the federal E-SIGN Act, the Texas Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, and similar laws. The English-language version of these Terms controls over any translation. Company's rights and remedies under these Terms are cumulative and in addition to any rights or remedies available at law or in equity.
Design ALT + TAB - Legal / Website Contact
2200 Post Oak Blvd, Houston, Texas 77056, United States
Email: contact@designalttab.com
Telephone: +1 (713) 388-6210
Website contact form: www.designalttab.com/contact
Regional contacts for project inquiries: americas@designalttab.com (United States, Canada, Mexico); europe@designalttab.com (EU, United Kingdom, Switzerland); middleeast@designalttab.com (GCC and Levant); southasia@designalttab.com (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh); asiapacific@designalttab.com (Singapore, Japan, Australia). Legal notices under these Terms should be directed to the Houston address or contact@designalttab.com, not to a regional inbox.
Identify the relevant website and purpose in your communication. Use the express email or mailing procedures in Section 24 for a dispute notice or arbitration opt-out. Use the Privacy Policy's channels for a privacy request. These contact methods do not replace service of process or a notice method required by a separate agreement unless expressly accepted or required by law.
For an intellectual-property or credit concern, identify the protected work or right, the specific allegedly infringing or miscredited material and its location, your contact information, your authority to complain, and the factual basis for the concern. Include any statements or signature required by applicable law. A general legal contact is not represented as a registered statutory copyright agent; any separately designated agent and mandatory procedure will be identified where applicable. Do not submit a knowingly false complaint.