LACO Website Makeover

Background

Loving Arms Cancer Outreach (LACO) is a nonprofit that provides emotional, financial, and practical support to families affected by cancer. Their website is a central hub for outreach, services, and donor engagement. However, outdated design, accessibility barriers, and structural issues made a redesign essential.

View the Original LACO Website

For project context, you can explore the original Loving Arms Cancer Outreach (LACO) website. Our capstone project aims to improve accessibility, usability, performance, and long-term sustainability based on this existing structure.

Project Scope & Objectives

• Conduct baseline audits using WCAG, Lighthouse, and usability best practices.
• Identify accessibility issues, readability problems, and navigation gaps.
• Research best-in-class nonprofit websites for design inspiration.
• Propose modern WordPress solutions including Elementor, JotForm, and Jetpack.
• Create a long-term Website Architecture & Maintenance Guide.

Accessibility & Usability Focus

The redesign centered around WCAG principles—Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust— ensuring the site supports individuals with disabilities, mobile users, and varying device types. Using color contrast testing, screen reader considerations, and mobile responsiveness guidelines, the team identified critical improvements needed for LACO’s digital inclusivity.

Quality Assurance & Testing

Team Nova built a full QA plan including a Test Log, Bug Log, WCAG checklist, and diagnostic testing with Lighthouse, axe DevTools, Postman, and WordPress debugging tools. This provided measurable before-and-after evidence of improvements and ensured consistent testing throughout development.

Outcomes

The project established a sustainable, accessible, user-friendly website plan for Loving Arms Cancer Outreach. With improved structure, documentation, and testing workflows, the website will support the organization’s mission long after the capstone concludes.