University Department Website Rebuild
An academic department had a 10-year-old website built on legacy technology that was inaccessible, slow-loading, and difficult for faculty to update.
This case study is anonymized to protect client confidentiality.
Outcomes
Performance Score
Accessibility Score
Page Load Time
The Challenge
The site used outdated HTML with no semantic structure, failed WCAG in over 150 areas, had a performance score of 28, and required technical knowledge to update content. Faculty were routing students to PDF workarounds instead of the site.
Our Solution
Rebuilt the site from scratch using Next.js with accessibility-first development practices, a custom CMS for non-technical editors, and comprehensive WCAG 2.2 AA compliance throughout. Performance and accessibility were treated as a single system, not separate workstreams.
How We Approached It
- Full accessibility and performance audit of the legacy site to establish a baseline
- New information architecture based on how students and faculty actually navigate the site
- Next.js rebuild with semantic HTML, proper heading hierarchy, and keyboard-accessible navigation
- ARIA patterns applied to all interactive components — tabs, modals, dropdowns
- Lightweight content editor integrated so faculty can publish accessible content without technical knowledge
- Full WCAG 2.2 AA verification before launch
Key Takeaways
- Performance and accessibility failures on the legacy site shared the same root cause: no structural standards in the original build.
- Rebuilding with accessibility in mind from the first commit cost less than remediating the legacy site would have.
- Providing the faculty with accessible content editing tooling reduced the chance of regressions after handoff.
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