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Building WordPress Websites with Equity and Accessibility in Mind

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 Metric Old Website
 New Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility 95/100 100/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices 92/100 100/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed 31/100 73/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed 81/100 91/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization 80/100 83/100
WebPageTest Speed Index 7.309 1.926
Total Homepage File Size 2.2 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 Requests 84 (25 Images + 32 Scripts + 16 CSS + 11 Other + 1 HTML) 92 (64 Images + 15 Scripts + 8 CSS + 3 Other + 2 HTML)
Estimated Mobile 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

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Accessible Websites You Need. Content Editing Features You Want.

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 Metric Underscores Theme
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility 100/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices 92/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed 67/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed 89/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization 91/100
WebPageTest Speed Index 2.396
Total (Discover) Page File Size 2.09 Mb (1.4 Mb Images + 528 Kb Scripts + 81 Kb CSS + 138 Kb Fonts + 20 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests 90 (26 Images + 38 Scripts + 16 CSS + 6 Fonts + 3 Other + 1 HTML)
Estimated Mobile 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.

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Proven WordPress Websites that Nonprofits Love!

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 Metric Old (Divi) WordPress Theme
 New Custom-Branded WordPress Theme
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility 88/100 100/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices 75/100 92/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed 47/100 96/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed 64/100 99/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization 82/100 90/100
WebPageTest Speed Index 6.121 2.008
Homepage File Size 6.46 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 Requests 59 (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).

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