Nonprofit portfolio

Improving WordPress Sites With Web Standards

Water Fluoridation campaign website screenshot

A new WordPress site for Arcora Foundation’s Washington State Water Fluoridation campaign.

Scope of Work 

This project involved upgrading a DIVI Child Theme running outdated, insecure PHP software to a modern, Full Site Editor Theme running PHP 8.4. Non-semantic DIVI code was replaced with accessible, semantic HTML structure.

  • Accessibility Compliance
  • Performance Optimization
  • Security Hardening
  • WordPress Theme Development

Accessibility improvements include:

  • Scalable viewport for mobile and assistive technology devices
  • Links with 2 visual indicators
  • Skip-to-Content links for screen readers
  • Secondary navigation method: site search

Homepage file size was reduced 50% to 1 Mb, less than half the industry median; and server requests were also reduced 50% from 64 to 32 – resulting in sub 3 second mobile load times.

Benchmarks

Performance MetricOld DIVI WebsiteNew WordPress Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility83/10096/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices92/10092/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed57/10094/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed88/10096/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization92/10092/100
WebPageTest Speed Index4.1302.684
Total Homepage File Size2 Mb (612 Kb Images + 1.05 Mb Scripts + 154 Kb CSS + 306 Kb Fonts + 612 Kb HTML)1 Mb (325 Kb Images + 772 Kb Scripts + 99 Kb CSS + 35 Kb Fonts + 75 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests64 (9 Images + 18 Scripts + 13 CSS + 7 Fonts + 11 Other + 6 HTML)32 (6 Images + 11 Scripts + 5 CSS + 1 Font + 4 Other + 5 HTML)
Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time~4.3 seconds< 1 second
WebPageTest Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2025, 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

WordPress Design & Development: Scott Marlow

Posted on

Quality Nonprofit WordPress Sites

A new Block Editor-enabled WordPress site for Washington State Council of the Emergency Nurses Association – a not-for-profit professional organization affiliated with the National Emergency Nurses Association. Washington ENA is dedicated to quality patient care, public safety, continuing education, nursing research and promotion of the nursing profession.

Scope of Work

Our web design team was selected as part of a formal RFP to clone a Ruby On Rails website into a standalone WordPress environment so that WA ENA would have more control over content management.

  • Client discovery and needs assessment
  • Accessibility conformance
  • Content migration
  • Performance optimization
  • Visual Design & Layout
  • WordPress theme development

The new site includes a dynamic events calendar, online contact forms, and a variety of member resources.

Overall homepage size decreased 58% to 1.227 Mb – 42% below the industry median; and reducing Javascript improved mobile page speed 3 fold, to ~1.7 seconds.

To improve conformance to WCAG Level AA – the new website features ‘skip to content’ links, keyboard-navigable navigation, high contrast colors (> 4.5:1), semantic HTML, and other best practices.

Benchmarks

Performance MetricOld Ruby On Rails SiteNew WordPress Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility77/10091/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices100/100100/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed45/10099/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed61/100100/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization92/10092/100
WebPageTest Speed Index4.7161.746
Total Homepage File Size2.912 Mb (666 Kb Images + 1.582 Mb Scripts + 222 Kb Fonts + 462 Kb CSS + 42 Kb HTML)1.227 Mb (760 Kb Images + 256 Kb Scripts + 117 Kb Fonts + 92 Kb CSS + 32 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests28 (4 Images + 9 Scripts + 4 CSS + 5 Fonts + 3 Other + 3 HTML)71 (14 Images + 26 Scripts + 23 CSS + 4 Fonts + 3 Other + 1 HTML)
Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time~4.7 seconds~1.7 seconds

WebPageTest Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2024, 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

Branding & Visual Design: Terri Nakamura
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow

Posted on

Creating Usable Websites

A new mobile responsive WordPress CMS for Reclaiming Our Greatness, to replace its previous website powered by Webflow, which ROG found difficult to maintain. The project’s main objectives included providing a more intuitive editing experience, improving page load speed on mobile, and modernizing the visual look and feel of the site thru improved typography and updated imagery – including unique illustrations.

screenshot of new ROG website

ROG assists those affected by housing instability. Its trauma-informed care is designed to help BIPOC communities in King County, WA navigate complex housing, education, and justice systems with dignity and support.


Scope of Work

  • Performance Optimization
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Security Hardening
  • Visual Layout & Design
  • WordPress Theme Development

Page load speed was significantly improved, particularly for mobile devices, by reducing file size 87% (1/3 the median size) and decreasing web server requests 75%.

Performance Metric Old Webflow Website New WordPress Site
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility 88/100 96/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices 82/100 93/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed 86/100 98/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed 96/100 99/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization 100/100 85/100
WebPageTest Speed Index 6.122 2.325
Total Homepage File Size 5.575 Mb (4.6 Mb Images + 873 Kb Scripts + 171 Kb Fonts) 715 Kb (679 Kb Images + 101 Kb Scripts + 189 Kb CSS + 175 Kb Fonts + 19 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests 77 (38images + 22 scripts + 2 CSS files + 12 Fonts + 1 Other + 3 HTML) 19 (6 Images + 5 Scripts + 6 CSS + 1 Font + 1 HTML)
Estimated Homepage Mobile Load Time ~6.1 seconds ~2.3 seconds

WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2024, 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: Terri Nakamura
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow

Posted on

WordPress Training, Education, and Support

An accessible, performance-optimized site rebuild for Forefront Suicide Prevention, a program of the University of Washington School of Social Work.

Forefront website screenshot
Forefront Suicide Prevention offers training, education and program support for suicide prevention – using a public health approach to support community-based suicide prevention work.

Forefront needed to update its outdated WordPress site, which was running PHP version 7.4 (deprecated in November 2022). Unfortunately, the site had not been properly maintained for years, so Plugins and WordPress software could no longer be updated. As a result, significant bugs were impacting site features and visitor usability, as well as content editing.

Scope of Work

  • Accessibility consulting, training and remediation
  • Performance Optimization
  • Security Hardening
  • Visual Layout & Design
  • WordPress Theme Development
  • WordPress CMS training

Performance

The new homepage size, at 889 Kb, is 62% below the median industry size of ~2.4 Mb, and web server requests have been reduced 51%, from 80 to 39.

Accessibility

To conform with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Level AA – site features include keyboard-navigable navigation; skip-to-content links; form field labels; semantic HTML; mobile-friendly ‘click-to-call’ phone numbers; and a high color contrast palette.

Performance Metric Old WordPress Website New WordPress Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility 80/100 100/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices 96/100 96/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed 67/100 81/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed 65/100 81/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization 92/100 85/100
WebPageTest Speed Index 3.442 2.960
Total Homepage File Size 3.246 Mb ( 1.6 Mb Images + 1.1 Mb Scripts + 130 Kb CSS + + 320 Kb Fonts + 129 Kb HTML) 889 Kb (357 Kb Images + 161 Kb Scripts + 106 Kb CSS + 270 Kb Fonts + 16 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests 80 (23 Images + 37 Scripts + 9 CSS + 3 Fonts + 4 Other + 4 HTML) 39 (10 Images + 14 Scripts + 12 CSS + 4 Fonts + 1 HTML)
Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time ~3.4 seconds ~2.9 seconds
WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2024, 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: Joan van den Berg
WordPress Development: Scott Marlow

Posted on

Discover. Develop. Differentiate.

website screenshot of NIIOH

A new mobile responsive WordPress CMS for NIIOH, to replace their non-mobile friendly Drupal site.

NIIOH provides convenings, tools and resources for thousands of educators, health professionals and other organizations to eradicate dental disease.

New site features include an e-newsletter signup, site search, custom 404 error page, and a modern visual refresh.

Scope of Work

  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Security Hardening
  • Visual Layout & Design
  • WordPress Theme Development
Performance MetricOld Drupal WebsiteNew WordPress Site
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility45/10089/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices67/10096/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed90/10070/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed100/10096/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization54/10085/100
WebPageTest Speed Index4.2834.786
Total Homepage File Size252 Kb (153 Kb Images + 54 Kb Scripts + 26 Kb CSS + 15 Kb Other + 4 Kb HTML)1.136 Mb (679 Kb Images + 101 Kb Scripts + 189 Kb CSS + 175 Kb Fonts + 19 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests52 (11 images + 2 scripts + 37 CSS files + 1 Other + 1 HTML)52 (31 Images + 9 Scripts + 9 CSS + 2 Fonts + 1 HTML)
Estimated Homepage Mobile Load Time~4.3 seconds~4.8 seconds

WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2023, 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: David Owen Hastings
WordPress Design + Development: Scott Marlow

Posted on