Case study · Events
A rebuild of the site Checkmate had already made themselves, keeping their look and feel while making it accessible, easier to find and easier for them to update.
Visit checkmateproductions.co.uk
The brief
Checkmate Productions is a female-led event production company in Louth, delivering festivals, light shows, street arts and community events across Lincolnshire and beyond. They had already built their own website, and they liked it: the warped checkerboard, the polaroid photos, the warm cream and green palette.
What it needed was a better build underneath. It was hard for some visitors to use, hard for search engines to find, and hard for the team to update without going back into the code. We kept the design they had made and rebuilt the site properly around it.
What we did
Three things changed under the surface, and the site looks almost the same on top. That was the point.
Rebuilt to meet WCAG accessibility guidelines: proper headings and landmarks, a skip link, keyboard navigation, readable contrast and alt text throughout. Checkmate talk about accessible events, so the site had to live up to it.
Each page now has its own purpose and its own search terms, from event production in Louth to programming and staffing. Fast load times, clean markup and sensible page titles do the rest.
The Debrief is their new blog, written and published from a simple dashboard. New posts, photos and updates go live without anyone touching code, so the site keeps growing with their work.
The site
The character of the original stayed. It just works harder now.
Services, each with its own page and photography
The team, with real photos and real stories
The result
Checkmate got to keep the website they were proud of, with none of the problems that came with it. It is accessible, it shows up in search for the work they actually do, and the team can publish their own updates whenever they like.
We'll talk it through and come back with an honest plan, within one working day.