Blog
Inclusive Websites for Inclusive Communities
Visual Design by Peg Ogle
WordPress Theme Development by Scott Marlow
A bright mobile-first website refresh for Silver Glen – the only cooperative community for senior independent living in King County.
The new site features a video of facility stills; an image gallery; and a community events calendar. System operating fonts were chosen to optimize site performance, with a minimum font-size of 18 pixels to improve readability for older audiences. A sitewide sidebar can promote units for sale, as needed.
Celebrating Speed. Building Sites. Whole WordPress Support.
Visual Design by Heidi Grace – My Kaleidoscope House
WordPress Theme Development by Scott Marlow
I am committed to fostering connections with clients so that I can solve unique marketing challenges with effective WordPress solutions. My approach to website design & development is based on measurable principles – including accessibility guidelines, performance benchmarks, security best practices, search engine requirements, and usability findings.
Clients can receive continued support post-launch to help guide them through technical and marketing challenges. I want to empower each client to manage their online web presence. Establishing trust is the first step towards helping clients achieve their online goals.
Julie Hannan had already worked with me on her first website – so she trusted me with her 2019 site refresh. Thru our interview and client discovery process, Heidi and I launched a mobile-first redesign that matches Sparkle Spot’s unique brand identity.
By working with the client to outline the goals and vision of their web presence, we can visually present the company’s ethos and service message. We place great value on the importance of usable design. A minimalist design emphasizes content and optimizes performance. We combine design aesthetic with an attention to usability to focus the visitor’s attention on the website’s service offerings. The new site features playful, custom cursive type for headlines – as well as custom mosaic illustrations – for a unique, but not trendy, look. The blue and green color palette has a Seattle Seahawks/Sounders feel to it, chosen to showcase local pride and also represent growth and stability for young learners.
Sparkle Spot Stats
Google PageSpeed Insights
Mobile: 97/100
Desktop: 97/100
Pingdom: 89/100
WebPageTest Speed Index: 1,405 (median = ~4,493; top 10% = <1,388)
Yahoo YSlow: 85/100 (average score = 70)
Total Page Size: 389 Kb
In 2018, the average web page size was ~2.4 Mb; Google recommends a max page size of 500 Kb for mobile optimization
Total Web Server Requests: 26
Database driven websites, like WordPress, are faster when requests are < 20 – 40
Page Load Speed: < 1 second
An Accessibility Analysis of the Top 1 Million homepages
Salmon Creek Cafe Serves Up WordPress
Visual Design by Tyler Potts
WordPress Child Theme Development by Scott Marlow
A fresh mobile responsive WordPress website for Salmon Creek Cafe in Burien. This fun redesign, with custom photos by Tyler Potts, replaces a SquareSpace site that staff found difficult to edit.
My favorite feature of the new site is the easy to read (HTML) menus, formatted in simple single columns. Too many restaurants publish their menus via cumbersome, difficult to read PDFs; HTML content is mobile responsive and much more accessible. We also emphasized the contact information, which restaurant patrons should be able to find easily.
To add value, we chose to custom skin an existing template Theme, Dara, by Automattic. Built on _Underscores, the overall page size is 717 Kb, about 1/3 the industry median page size of ~2.1 Mb.