_Underscores

Underscores, or _s, if you prefer, is a starter WordPress Theme. It has been the foundation of Automattic’s Twenty-xx Themes, which is why it’s called Underscores. It’s also called the 1000-hour head start theme because it includes years of refinements by dozens of WordPress theme experts.
Better. Faster. Stronger. And open source.

Learn more about _S in A 1000-Hour Head Start: Introducing The _s Theme.

Median Performance Metrics

Page Size:	484 Kb
WebPageTest Mobile Speed Index:	1.762
Google Lighthouse Mobile Speed:	75
Google Lighthouse Desktop Speed	90

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.

Make Your WordPress Website an Accessible Website

An accessible, performance-optimized site rebuild for Safer Homes, Suicide Aware – a public health campaign focused on “lethal means safety” to help reduce suicides and self-harm through safe firearm and medication storage practices.

The Safer Homes team distributes lockboxes for medications and firearms, educates participants in suicide risk, and encourages secure, proactive storage for both firearms and medications. The organization’s main outreach efforts include:

SAFER (Suicide Awareness for Firearm owners & Education Resources) – in-person lockbox giveaways
TeleSAFER – remote lockbox distribution
Targeted Interventions – a cultural competency training for medical and mental health providers
Firearms industry training & outreach to promote suicide awareness and increase temporary, out-of-home emergency firearms storage
Quarterly, public, free firearms safety webinars with an emphasis on suicide prevention

Scope of Work

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

Performance

To optimize performance, overall page size, at 582 Kb, is 80% below the median industry homepage size of ~2.4 Mb, and server requests have been reduced 74%, from 159 to 42. These improvements increased mobile page load speed index 6 fold, to an acceptable 3 seconds.

Accessibility

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

Performance Metric	old website	New Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility	70/100	89/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices	58/100	92/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed	45/100	86/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed	53/100	100/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization	69/100	98/100
WebPageTest Speed Index	12.155	2.925
Total Homepage File Size	2.96 Mb ( 1.35 Mb Images + 809 Kb Scripts + 435 Kb CSS + + 351 Kb Fonts + 76 Kb HTML)	582 kb (77 Kb Images + 175 Kb Scripts + 77 Kb CSS + 254 Kb Fonts + 13 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests	159 (43 Images + 67 Scripts + 37 CSS + 6 Fonts + 3 Other + 3 HTML)	42 (7 Images + 16 Scripts + 14 CSS + 4 Fonts + 1 HTML)
Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time	~12 seconds	~2.9 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

WordPress Development: Scott Marlow

Posted on June 29, 2023November 7, 2024

Collaborative Divorce Attorney Website

The latest website launch for Shoreline attorney Ginger Boyle, who specializes in collaborative divorce and divorce mediation.

This project involved rebuilding a non-mobile friendly GoDaddy Site Builder website into a more accessible, mobile friendly WordPress site. Web server requests – the primary factor in slow page load speeds – were reduced 20% from 42 to 34, and overall homepage size was reduced 45% from 1.3 Mb to 715 Kb. Google Lighthouse mobile speed benchmarks improved from 24 to 97/100.

Performance Analysis

Performance Metric	old GoDaddy website	New WordPress Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility	48/100	97/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices	67/100	100/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed	24/100	97/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed	96/100	89/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization	91/100	91/100
WebPageTest Speed Index	1.905	2.420
Total Homepage File Size	1.302 Mb (144 Kb Images + 80 Kb Scripts + 20 Kb CSS + 1 Mb Fonts + 9 Kb HTML)	715 Kb (125 Kb Images + 295 Kb Scripts + 93 Kb CSS + Kb Fonts + Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests	42 (4 Images + 10 Scripts + 2 CSS + 24 Fonts + 2 HTML)	34 (6 Images +11 Scripts + 12 CSS + 3 Other + 2 HTML)
Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time	~2 seconds	~2.4 seconds

Branding & Visual Design: Heidi Grace
Portraiture: Ingrid Page-Sheldon
Videography: The Crouch Group
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow

Posted on May 22, 2023February 16, 2024

Regular Website Check-ups = Better Performance

A modern refresh for Arcora Foundation’s SmileMobile van, a 3-chair mobile dental office that brings oral health services to babies, children, youth, pregnant/postpartum people and adults in Washington State who have limited options for dental care. The new site features a mobile-friendly event calendar, as well as translation tool for under-served communities.

Mobile performance was significantly improved by reducing web server requests 63% and overall page size 77%.

Accessibility improvements included skip-to-content links, keyboard-navigable navigation, semantic HTML, and a higher contrast color palette.

Scope of Work

Accessibility Remediation
Performance Optimization
Search Engine Optimization
Visual Design & Layout

Performance Analysis

Performance Metric	Old Website	New Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility	95/100	98/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices	92/100	92/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed	31/100	84/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed	81/100	95/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization	80/100	91/100
WebPageTest Speed Index	7.309	2.879
Total Homepage File Size	2.2 Mb ( 1.36 Mb Images + 574 Kb Scripts + 156 Kb CSS + Kb HTML)	509 Kb (153 Kb Images + 128 Kb Scripts + 77 Kb CSS + 150 Kb Fonts + 12 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests	84 (25 Images + 32 Scripts + 16 CSS + 11 Other + 1 HTML)	31 (6 Images + 11 Scripts + 11 CSS + 1 Font + 2 HTML)
Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time	~7.3 seconds	~2.9 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.

Posted on May 17, 2023February 16, 2024

Personalized Website Services for Community-Based Organizations

A quick turnaround WIX-to-WordPress website conversion for Nursing Evolutions, an Everett-based organization providing 24/7 specialty pediatric care.

Nursing Evolutions needed a modernized website, with improved search engine optimization features, to help with nurse recruitment.

Scope of Work

Branding & Visual Design
Performance Optimization
Search Engine Optimization
WordPress Theme Development
WordPress Training & Consulting

Performance

Homepage size has been reduced 22% to 2 Mb, within the industry median. More importantly, web server requests, which contribute the most to page load latency, have been reduced 63%, from 135 to 50. To help facilitate the migration from WIX to a self-hosted WordPress platform, DNS was moved to a Content Delivery Network.

Before & After Performance Comparison

Performance Metric	old WIX website	New WordPress Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility	89/100	98/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices	100/100	92/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed	63/100	89/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed	59/100	90/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization	86/100	84/100
WebPageTest Speed Index	3.091	2.743
Total Homepage File Size	2.563 Mb (177 Kb Images + 1.9 Mb Scripts + 54 Kb CSS + 264 Kb Fonts + 74 Kb Other + 122 Kb HTML)	2.008 Mb (947 Kb Images + 810 Kb Scripts + 123 Kb CSS + 103 Kb Fonts + 31 Kb Other + 42 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests	135 (10 Images + 69 Scripts + 3 CSS + 37 Other + 10 Fonts + 6 HTML)	50 (12 Images + 14 Scripts + 10 CSS + 3 Fonts + 6 Other + 5 HTML)
Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time	~3 seconds	~2.7 seconds

WebPageTest 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.

Scott Marlow is an exceptional developer who is dedicated to delivering high-quality work within the given time frame.

Throughout the entire process, Scott Marlow remained highly responsive and communicative, keeping us informed of the progress and addressing any concerns or questions we had promptly. He was able to manage the project’s deadlines effectively and delivered on every commitment he made.

Scott’s in-depth knowledge of WordPress development enabled him to provide valuable insights and suggestions on how to optimize our website’s performance and user experience.
Gabrielle D’Ambrosio, Partner

Site Credits

Visual Design: Terri Nakamura
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow

Posted on March 29, 2023June 23, 2023

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

Posted on March 12, 2023June 23, 2023