Website redesign for an accounting and tax firm in Fribourg: budget, timeline and risks (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

For a small Fribourg audit firm, a redesign is judged first on a simple test: a 65-year-old SME owner must be able to read, understand and contact the firm from a phone, in French as well as German. As a 2026 ballpark, an accessible bilingual site costs CHF 14,000 to 24,000 with a local agency, versus CHF 8,200 for Kolonell Premium, the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote, delivered in 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready. The risks to scope are page migration in both languages, compliance of auditor titles and an accessibility acceptance test run against WCAG 2.2 AA criteria written down in advance.

What are the signs an audit firm's site needs a redesign?

In Fribourg, between the station, Pérolles and the Sarine municipalities, an audit firm's clients mix family SMEs, associations and self-employed people, often run by owners who browse on mobile in poor reading conditions. Frequent signals:

• light grey text on white, 13-pixel body copy, tiny buttons;
• an incomplete German version or one hidden behind a barely visible flag;
• reports and forms published only as scanned PDFs;
• a home page taking more than 4 seconds to display on 4G;
• professional titles never reviewed since the last change of partners.

What budget for a bilingual, accessible site?

2026 ballpark based on typical agency quotes and public rate pages of agencies in Fribourg and Bern, for 12 to 20 pages per language:

The Kolonell grid includes a project manager reachable in your time zone, native French or English copywriting, delivery in 3 to 4 weeks and 3 months of support. Maintenance after the 3 included months, accounting software links and search work: on quote. Details on the international offer page.

Which accessibility and speed criteria belong in the acceptance test?

For a private firm, WCAG 2.2 AA serves here as a quality benchmark; we do not assert any specific legal obligation. The point is to write it into the acceptance checklist, whoever the provider is.

For mobile speed, aim for the "good" Core Web Vitals thresholds: LCP under 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 milliseconds, CLS under 0.1. Levers: WebP or AVIF images, two fonts at most, no carousel at the top of the page. Scanned PDF reports are replaced by HTML pages or tagged PDFs.

Risks, timeline and questions to ask

• Rankings: URL inventory in both languages, one 301 map per language, 30 days of 404 tracking in Search Console.
• Title compliance: only an auditor licensed by the Federal Audit Oversight Authority (FAOA) may present as such; membership of EXPERTsuisse or TREUHAND|SUISSE is not a state licence. The firm reviews every mention before go-live. Anti-money-laundering onboarding remains an internal process.
• Data: forms limited to name, contact details and type of need; the revised Federal Act on Data Protection (nLPD), in force since 1 September 2023, applies, and the GDPR if you target EU residents. This is not legal advice.
• Downtime: DNS TTL lowered 48 hours ahead, email untouched, cutover on a weekday morning.

Timeline once content is ready: week 1, inventory and high-contrast mock-ups; week 2, copy and build; week 3, German version, accessibility testing, 301 map; week 4, cutover. Pick a window outside the spring audit season and the filing peak, following the cantonal calendar.

Questions to ask: how is accessibility testing documented? Who proofreads the German? Which mobile Core Web Vitals scores are targeted?

When a local agency is the better choice. If you want a fully bilingual team on site, in-person user tests with your clients and an accessibility audit built into the contract, a Fribourg agency is justified, from CHF 14,000.

Mini case study

Thomas Aebischer is a partner at Révision Sarine SA (illustrative example), a 4-person firm licensed by the FAOA that audits SMEs and associations. Only half of his 26-URL site exists in German.

• Tier: Premium, the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote (French and German): CHF 8,200.
• Native German proofreading (third-party cost, independent proofreader): CHF 700.
• External accessibility audit (third-party cost, independent auditor): CHF 1,500.
• Total: CHF 10,400, versus CHF 15,500 to 25,500 for a bilingual local agency with the same audit.
• Measurable target: mobile LCP brought from 4.2 seconds to under 2.5 seconds, measured in Search Console.

FAQ

Is WCAG 2.2 AA mandatory for a private accounting firm?

We do not assert a general obligation; it is a quality benchmark. An external audit costs a ballpark CHF 1,500 to 4,000 as a third-party cost.

Which tier for a French and German site?

Premium, at CHF 8,200, the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote. Growth, at CHF 4,500, covers one language.

What minimum size for buttons?

24 × 24 CSS pixels under WCAG 2.2 criterion 2.5.8; many firms aim for 44 pixels on mobile for extra comfort.

How long does the redesign take?

3 to 4 weeks once content is ready, plus 2 to 3 weeks on the firm's side to approve both languages.

Do PDF reports have to go?

No, but a scanned PDF is unreadable for a screen reader. An HTML page or a tagged PDF solves the problem.

Let's scope your project. Tell us your languages, page count and accessibility requirements: we price it on the CHF 2,700, 4,500 or 8,200 grid, with third-party costs shown separately. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.