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Identifying Usability Problems. Developing Effective Websites.
A recently redesigned website for Henry M Jackson Foundation, a Seattle-based nonprofit diversifying and democratizing public policy by broadening access to public policy graduate study programs; and encouraging young legislators to build relationships across party lines through cross-partisan dialogue, debate, and action.
Despite using a WordPress-approved Theme, the foundation’s previous mobile site speed was sluggish, primarily due too excessive number of Plugins and associated Javascript. Our goal was to improve benchmark performance, while modernizing the brand identity and improving ease of use.
Scope of Work
- Accessibility Consulting
- Performance Optimization
- Visual Design
- WordPress Theme Development
- WordPress Training & Consulting
Performance
Mobile page load speed was improved significantly by reducing web server requests 66%, from 102 to 35 and by reducing overall page size 54%, from 1.196 Mb to 551 Kb.
Accessibility
Improvements include higher contrast colors to better adhere to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) color contrast ratio guidelines; increased font sizes; increased vertical rhythm; a navigation skip link; and text links with 2 visual indicators.
Before & After Performance Comparison
| Performance Metric | old website | New Website |
| Google Lighthouse: Accessibility | 94/100 | 100/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Best Practices | 83/100 | 92/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed | 56/100 | 88/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed | 97/100 | 98/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization | 93/100 | 92/100 |
| WebPageTest Speed Index | 4.036 | 3.318 |
| Total Homepage File Size | 1.196 Mb (636 Kb Images + 253 Kb Scripts + 145 Kb CSS + 177 Kb Fonts + 13 Kb HTML) | 551 Kb (317 Kb Images + 113 Kb Scripts + 106 Kb CSS + 16 Kb Fonts + 12 Kb HTML) |
| Total Web Server Requests | 102 (7 Images + 47 Scripts + 41 CSS + 4 Font + 2 Other + 1 HTML) | 35 (5 Images + 11 Scripts + 14 CSS + 2 Fonts + 2 Other + 1 HTML) |
| Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time | ~4 seconds | ~3.3 seconds |
WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2022, 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.
Site Credits
Visual Design: Erik Fadiman
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow
Sitecore to WordPress CMS Migration
Committed to Accessible WordPress Websites for Nonprofits
This project involved cloning the existing Seattle Foundation visual layout and design from a website powered by Sitecore into a new more accessible, performance-optimized site powered by a WordPress Content Management System.
Foundation staff wanted a CMS that was simpler and easier to maintain. Project challenges included poorly structured Sitecore-exported XML data files, a low contrast color palette, and a short timeline. Content management was the primary dependency for the new website launch, since hundreds of posts needed to be migrated.
The site is working great! We love it and you did a fantastic job.
Jason Jystad, IT Operations Director
Scope of Work
- Accessibility Consulting
- Database Content Migration
- Performance Optimization
- WordPress Theme Development
Performance
Mobile speed index improved 69%, from ~9.5 to 2.5 seconds [source: WebPageTest]. This was achieved by reducing overall homepage size 89% – from 5.7 Mb to 639 Kb, and significantly reducing Javascript 95% – from 2.2 Mb to 112 Kb. Overall, web server requests, the primary contributor to slow page loads, decreased 49%. Finally, DNS management was moved to a Cloudflare CDN for better performance, redundancy and security.
Accessibility
Improvements include higher contrast colors to better adhere to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG); increased font sizes; a navigation skip link; and removal of auto-rotating content sliders.
Before & After Performance Comparison
| Performance Metric | former Sitecore CMS homepage (Nov 2022) |
New WordPress homepage (December 2022) |
| Google Lighthouse: Accessibility | 87/100 | 100/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Best Practices | 75/100 | 92/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed | 46/100 | 79/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed | 60/100 | 99/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization | 83/100 | 93/100 |
| WebPageTest Speed Index | 9.468 | 2.473 |
| Total Homepage File Size | 5.733 Mb (3.01 Mb Images + 2.2 Mb Scripts + 398Kb CSS + 162 Kb Fonts + 67 Kb HTML) | 639 Kb (302 Kb Images + 112 Kb Scripts + 69 Kb CSS + 150 Kb Fonts + 21 Kb HTML) |
| Total Web Server Requests | 59 (24 Images + 19 Scripts + 8 CSS + 7 Other + 1 HTML) | 30 (8 Images + 3 Scripts + 9 CSS + 3 Other + 1 HTML) |
| Approximate Homepage Load Time (mobile) | ~9.5 seconds | ~2.5 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.
Seattle Foundation manages over $1 billion in philanthropic investments. 2022 marks the 1-year anniversary of the Foundation’s REPAIR initiative (Racially Equitable Philanthropy Aimed at Initiating Relationships), with a minimum investment of $25 million to Black-led organizations around Seattle; and its Center for Community Partnerships striving to achieve greater racial and economic equity in the region. The Foundation also incubated SkillUp Washington – a workforce funders collaborative connecting employers, post-secondary training and low-income adults.
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow
WordPress Consulting for Private Companies and Nonprofit Organizations
A website conversion from Joomla into WordPress for SoundEarth Strategies, a professional services firm that provides environmental and engineering consulting services in the Pacific Northwest. The marcom staff wanted to clone the existing Joomla website into a more intuitive, user-friendly WordPress CMS, already in use by a subsidiary.
Like WordPress, Joomla is a PHP-based open source Content Management System. With an estimated 2.5% share of market – it is estimated to be the fifth most popular CMS after WordPress (65% market share), Shopify (6.5%), Wix (3.4%) and Squarespace (3%). There are approximately 6,000 extensions available for Joomla vs. over 60,000 for WordPress.
Scope of Work
- Accessibility Consulting
- Database Content Migration
- Performance Optimization
- WordPress Theme Development
WebPageTest Speed Index shows a 62% improvement in mobile page load speed by reducing web server requests almost 20% and reducing page size from 3 Mb to 2 Mb.
Google Lighthouse accessibility benchmarks also improved markedly from 79 to 98/100. This is important for federal contractors who
must legally follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) level AA under the American Disabilities Act. Improvements included accessible form fields, increased font sizes, and higher color contrast ratios.
Before & After Performance Comparison
| Performance Metric | Old Joomla Homepage |
New WordPress Homepage |
| Google Lighthouse: Accessibility | 79/100 | 98/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Best Practices | 92/100 | 92/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed | 62/100 | 87/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed | 89/100 | 87/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization | 84/100 | 93/100 |
| WebPageTest Speed Index | 6.767 | 2.588 |
| Total Homepage File Size | 2.99 Mb (2.5 Mb Images + 295 Kb Scripts + 119 Kb CSS + 117 Kb Fonts + HTML) | 1.98 Mb (1.05 Mb Images + 776 Kb Scripts + 86 Kb CSS + 39 Kb Fonts + 31 Kb Other + 34 Kb HTML) |
| Total Web Server Requests | 50 (9 Images + 19 Scripts + 17 CSS + 4 Other + 1 HTML) | 41 (7 Images + 12 Scripts + 8 CSS + 8 Other + 1 Font +5 HTML) |
| Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time | ~6.8 seconds | ~2.6 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.
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow
Sending a 6,817′ Summit Somewhere in Montana
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