Scalable WordPress for Non-Profit community

Our Normal is a Swedish non-profit initiative committed to building a more inclusive society, especially for families with children or relatives with disabilities. The platform functions as an online community hub that unites two main audiences: families seeking community, resources, and shared experiences and businesses aiming to provide more inclusive products and services.

Founded with a clear social mission, Our Normal helps bridge the gap between social support and societal inclusion. It provides informative content, personal stories, and collaborative opportunities to promote lasting change. Their existing site was built with WordPress, but as their vision grew, so did the need for a platform that could better reflect their mission and scale with future demands.

Outgrown platform

The original WordPress site for Our Normal stopped meeting platform requirements as well as user needs. While the content was valuable, the experience felt dated. The platform needed a more intuitive and modern design to handle evolving content strategies, multilingual support, and accessibility standards without compromising usability for non-technical editors.

Simplicity vs. Flexibility

One of the client's key requests was to keep WordPress as the base CMS. It was already familiar to their team, easy to manage, and cost-effective. However, they also wanted flexibility like custom layouts, dynamic content blocks, and improved navigation while preserving the core functionality centered around blog-style articles.

Accessibility

The platform needed to go beyond visual appeal and deliver a seamless experience for users with disabilities. Accessibility was a key requirement, not an option. Meeting international accessibility standards while maintaining a smooth and engaging user experience introduced an additional layer of technical complexity.

Team coordination

UKAD was brought in to lead the development and worked closely with Our Normal's internal UI/UX designer. The UKAD team included a backend developer, a frontend developer, a QA engineer, and a dedicated project manager. Coordinating across design, development, and content in a multilingual and accessibility-focused environment required careful planning and consistent communication.

"Smarter" WordPress

UKAD selected WordPress as the platform to develop their new site because it fulfilled client requirements for familiar functionality and expanded available options. WordPress was chosen for its flexibility, robust plugin ecosystem, and scalability. It allowed the team to create an easily maintainable site that didn't compromise on features or design.

Tech stack

PHP was used to power the backend. Its compatibility with WordPress and extensive developer community made it the right choice for ensuring stability and security.

The front end was fully restructured using clean, modular HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, ensuring the site was responsive, lightweight, and optimized for all devices. Emphasis was placed on accessibility, starting from color contrast to keyboard navigation, using best practices and integrated testing tools.

Plugin Integration

Three following plugins were used to manage much of the site's enhanced functionality:

• WPML (WordPress Multilingual Plugin): Provided fast and accurate website translation, allowing the platform to support multiple languages with both AI-powered and human-reviewed options.

• ACF (Advanced Custom Fields): Enabled UKAD to build tailored content blocks with reusable fields, giving Our Normal's editors the ability to update and manage content without needing technical support.

• UserWay Accessibility Plugin: Maintain accessibility standards, offering tools like screen reader optimization and keyboard navigation support. The plugin served as the key component to improve inclusion by making platform functions comply with mission objectives.

Scalable design

UKAD implemented a fully responsive design that performed seamlessly on mobile, tablet, and desktop. The site architecture was built to scale, with flexible layouts and dynamic content handling, allowing the platform to grow in content volume and complexity over time.

Purpose-aligned platform

The redesigned Our Normal platform now fully reflects the organization's mission of inclusion. The website offers a cleaner, more intuitive experience accessible to a broader audience, including people with disabilities. The thoughtful redesign makes it easier for users to find relevant information, connect with the community, and engage with inclusive initiatives.

User-friendly for editors

Integrating WordPress with custom tools such as ACF enables Our Normal staff to manage platform content independently through their user-friendly system. Editors maintain complete control over article updates, new story compilation, and page translation without requiring technical assistance. The freedom provided by this new approach has reorganized workflows at their organization and improved their content.

Accessibility first

The site meets WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards, with key improvements supported by integrating the UserWay accessibility plugin. These changes ensure the platform is usable for people of all abilities, supporting screen readers, keyboard navigation, and other assistive technologies. This reflects Our Normal's core value: creating a digital space where everyone can participate equally.

Future-ready foundation

The new architectural framework allows the platform to expand when an organization needs to grow. The flexible foundation developed by our experts makes future development straightforward in many use cases, such as adding new content types, introducing partner directories, or extending multilingual support. In the end, the partnership delivered a modern, content-rich platform that honors Our Normal's mission while empowering its team with the tools it needs.