Case Study · Nonprofit · 2025

West Palm Beach
Center for Arts & Technology

A full digital transformation — custom website redesign, WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility, SEO infrastructure, email authentication, and zero-downtime migration from WordPress.

Pure HTML
No CMS · No Templates
WCAG 2.1 AA
Accessibility Standard
Zero
Downtime During Migration
6 Areas
Full Scope Delivered
The Client

Who Is WPBCAT

WPBCAT is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing no-cost career training in West Palm Beach, Florida. Their programs span culinary arts, construction trades, and technology — free for qualifying participants, designed to connect students directly to employment.

When they came to Marcai, their digital presence didn't match their work. An outdated WordPress site was slow, inaccessible on mobile, invisible to Google, and sending emails to spam. They needed more than a redesign — they needed a complete digital foundation built from scratch.

Client
West Palm Beach Center for Arts & Technology
Website
wpbcat.org ↗
Industry
Nonprofit · Workforce Development
Scope
Design, Development, Accessibility, SEO, Email, Migration
Status
Live ✓
The Problem

What They Were Working With

01
Outdated WordPress Site
Slow, plugin-heavy, and visually dated. The WordPress install came with database overhead and CMS complexity that made every page load a problem.
02
No Mobile Optimization
The site broke on mobile. Prospective students — most of them on phones — couldn't navigate programs or contact the organization without hitting dead ends.
03
Zero Accessibility
No skip links, no ARIA labels, no keyboard navigation, no focus indicators. A public-facing nonprofit serving people with disabilities had a fully inaccessible site.
04
No SEO or Email Infrastructure
Missing meta tags, no structured data, no sitemap, no DKIM authentication. Google couldn't index them and outreach emails were landing in spam.
The Transformation

Before & After

Old WordPress Site
Old WPBCAT WordPress homepage
Issues
  • WordPress — slow, plugin-heavy, no mobile
  • No accessibility standards whatsoever
  • Zero SEO infrastructure or metadata
  • Emails going to spam — no DKIM
  • Outdated design, no brand consistency
wpbcat.org — New Site
New WPBCAT homepage
Delivered
  • Pure HTML/CSS/JS — lightning fast loads
  • WCAG 2.1 AA fully accessible
  • Complete SEO foundation + Search Console
  • DKIM auth — email deliverability fixed
  • Custom design — zero downtime migration
View Live Site: wpbcat.org →
Before — Old WordPress Site
Old WPBCAT homepage Old WPBCAT mission section Old WPBCAT programs page Old WPBCAT about page
After — New Site
New WPBCAT homepage New WPBCAT about section New WPBCAT programs New WPBCAT leadership
New WPBCAT culinary program New WPBCAT get involved New WPBCAT values New WPBCAT donate page
What We Built

Full Scope Deliverables

Design & Development
  • Custom site built from scratch — no WordPress, no templates
  • CSS variable-based brand color system
  • Mobile-first responsive design
  • Industry-themed program pages with 3D tilt effects
  • Animated hero carousel with branded typography
  • Collapsible leadership bios and advisory board grid
  • Custom 404 page and branded OG social image
Accessibility — WCAG 2.1 AA
  • Skip navigation links on all pages
  • Keyboard focus states on all interactive elements
  • Proper heading hierarchy and semantic HTML
  • ARIA labels on all buttons and components
  • 44px minimum touch targets for mobile
  • prefers-reduced-motion media query support
  • Alt text on every image
SEO & Metadata
  • Unique title tags and meta descriptions per page
  • Open Graph and Twitter Card tags
  • JSON-LD Schema.org structured data for nonprofit
  • XML sitemap and robots.txt
  • Canonical URLs across all pages
  • Google Search Console setup and verification
  • Old WordPress URL removal and redirect handling
Integrations
  • Constant Contact email list integration
  • Formsubmit contact form to organizational email
  • Custom animated thank-you confirmation page
  • PayPal donation integration
Email & Security
  • DKIM email authentication configured
  • SSL/TLS certificates and HTTPS via .htaccess
  • Content Security Policy implementation
  • All external links secured with rel="noopener"
  • Honeypot and CAPTCHA spam protection
Migration
  • Full migration from WordPress on GoDaddy cPanel
  • WordPress installation and database fully removed
  • Clean URL structure via Apache rewrite rules
  • Zero downtime during transition
  • Old URLs handled with branded 404 page
Tech Stack

Built Clean

HTML5 CSS3 Vanilla JavaScript Apache .htaccess Google Fonts Font Awesome Formsubmit Constant Contact PayPal SDK GoDaddy cPanel DKIM Auth Schema.org JSON-LD WCAG 2.1 AA
The Outcome

What Changed After

Dramatically Faster Loads
No PHP, no database, no CMS overhead. Pure HTML/CSS/JS means near-instant page loads compared to the old WordPress install.
Fully Mobile Optimized
Every page works flawlessly on mobile — from program detail pages to the contact form and donation flow.
SEO-Ready Foundation
Proper metadata, structured data, and sitemap submitted to Google Search Console from day one.
Accessible & Compliant
WCAG 2.1 AA standards met across all pages. The site is fully usable by students with disabilities.
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