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Building WordPress Websites with Equity and Accessibility in Mind

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Sometimes a website with reasonable benchmarks can still perform poorly. This dental foundation website is a perfect example. The former site’s 2.2 Mb page size was well within the industry median; and 84 server requests is above optimum, but certainly not atrocious. Still, migrating from a custom-coded Theme to a WordPress-approved Theme (_Underscores) significantly improved perceived page load speed, despite server requests increasing and page size decreasing nominally.

Dental Foundation website
Arcora Foundation’s new WordPress Block-powered website

Benchmark Analysis

Performance MetricOld Website
New Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility95/100100/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices92/100100/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed31/10073/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed81/10091/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization80/10083/100
WebPageTest Speed Index7.3091.926
Total Homepage File Size2.2 Mb ( 1.36 Mb Images + 574 Kb Scripts + 156 Kb CSS + 110 Kb HTML)1.7 Mb (1.28 Mb Images + 295 Kb Scripts + 63 Kb CSS + Kb Fonts + 124 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests84 (25 Images + 32 Scripts + 16 CSS + 11 Other + 1 HTML)92 (64 Images + 15 Scripts + 8 CSS + 3 Other + 2 HTML)
Total Homepage Load Time~7.3 seconds~ 1.9 seconds

WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2021, the average page size = ~2.4 Mb and median page size = ~2.1 Mb.
Database-driven websites, like WordPress, are more performance optimized when server requests are < 40 – 60.

Scope of Work

  • Accessibility auditing, consulting and remediation
  • Performance optimization
  • Security hardening
  • WordPress training & consulting

Web Design + Development Team

Visual Design by David Owen Hastings
WordPress Theme Development by Scott Marlow

Accessible Websites You Need. Content Editing Features You Want.

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A new WordPress Theme for Base Supply Center, operated by The Lighthouse for the Blind. This new Gutenberg block-powered Theme replaces the former Avada Theme. Website improvements include:

  • mobile-friendly phone numbers;
  • increased font sizing with improved line-height for readability;
  • improved color contrast;
  • and table-less HTML layout.

supply center website

Scope of Work

  • Accessibility auditing, consulting and remediation
  • DNS management
  • Performance optimization
  • Security hardening
  • WordPress training & consulting

Benchmarks

Performance MetricUnderscores Theme
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility100/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices92/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed67/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed89/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization91/100
WebPageTest Speed Index2.396
Total (Discover) Page File Size2.09 Mb (1.4 Mb Images + 528 Kb Scripts + 81 Kb CSS + 138 Kb Fonts + 20 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests90 (26 Images + 38 Scripts + 16 CSS + 6 Fonts + 3 Other + 1 HTML)
Total Homepage Load Time~2.6 seconds

An optional HTML Table Caption
WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2021, the average page size = ~2.4 Mb and median page size = ~2.1 Mb.
Database-driven websites, like WordPress, are more performance optimized when server requests are < 40 – 60.

Proven WordPress Websites that Nonprofits Love!

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Sound Generations’ Project Enhance provides licensing, training and assistance for two nationally recognized evidence-based programs: Enhance®Fitness and Enhance®Wellness.

The new Project Enhance WordPress site features an integrated members-only content area for fitness instructors and affiliates across 43 states. Benchmarks across all measurable areas have improved significantly. Overall page size has reduced 93% from 6.5 Mb to < 500 Kb; web server requests have reduced 69% from 59 to 18. These improvements result in page load speeds less than 3 seconds.

Enhance Fitness and Wellness website

Site Statistics

Performance MetricOld (Divi) WordPress Theme
New Custom-Branded WordPress Theme
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility88/100100/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices75/10092/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed47/10096/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed64/10099/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization82/10090/100
WebPageTest Speed Index6.1212.008
Homepage File Size6.46 Mb (6.06 Mb Images + 205 Kb Scripts + 239 Kb CSS +100 Kb Fonts + Kb HTML)484 Kb (302 Kb Images + 3 Kb Scripts + 33 Kb CSS + 149 Kb Fonts + 8 Kb HTML)
Web Server Requests59 (16 Images + 17 Scripts + 19 CSS + 5 Fonts + 2 HTML)18 (7 Images + 2 Scripts + 6 CSS + 2 Fonts + 1 HTML)
Homepage Load Time~6.1 seconds~2 seconds

WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2021, the average page size = ~2.4 Mb and median page size = ~2.1 Mb.
Database-driven websites, like WordPress, are more performance optimized when server requests are < 40 – 60.

Other site updates and improvements include:

More readable content with font sizes > 16 pixels and reduced line widths; keyboard-navigable menu with skip to content link for screen readers;  custom-branded browser favicon; improved security, including bruteforce protection.

Project Enhance is a collaboration between Sound Generations, University of Washington and Group Health Cooperative (now Kaiser Permanente).

WordPress. The Most Respected Content Management System in the World.

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Did you know WordPress powers 39.5% of all websites (up from powering 35% of sites in 2020)?

CMSMarket Share (2021)
WordPress65%
Shopify6.5%
Wix3.4%
SquareSpace3.0%
Joomla2.5%
Drupal1.9%
2021 stats according to W3 Techs

Lytle Enterprises contacted our team in October 2021 with accessibility, SEO and usability concerns for their aging website. Our goals included:

  1. To refresh and modernize the website based on the organization’s existing brand identity;
  2. To improve ease of use – including content management, information architecture, readability, and site maintenance;
  3. To improve conformance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) level AA – including keyboard-navigable navigation, skip-to-content links, semantic HTML, site search; and high color contrast [> 4.5:1 and > 3.5:1 for large text];
  4. To improve site performance and security;
  5. To improve search engine visibility and optimization.

The final benchmark results were impressive …

Performance MetricOld website (November 2021)New Website (April 2022)
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility96/100100/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices67/100100/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed59/10086/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed71/10098/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization71/10093/100
WebPageTest Speed Index5.8452.116
Total Homepage File Size377 Kb
(201 Kb Images + 172 Kb Scripts + 13 Kb CSS + 40 Kb Fonts + 19 Kb HTML)		383 Kb
(231 Kb Images + 4 Kb Scripts + 41 Kb CSS + 107 Kb Fonts + 8 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests25
(3 Images +13 Scripts + 5 CSS + 2 Font + 5 HTML)		20
(6 Images + 2 Scripts + 8 CSS + 3 Fonts + 1 HTML)
Total Homepage Load Time~5.8 seconds~2.1 seconds
WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2021, the average page size = ~2.4 Mb and median page size = ~2.1 Mb.
Database-driven websites, like WordPress, are more performance optimized when server requests are < 40 – 60.

Web Design + Development Team

Visual Design: Erik Fadiman
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow