CASE STUDY

Lex Gillette

A blind Paralympic athlete could not use his own WordPress website. We partnered on a ground-up rebuild in Webflow, accessible by design, cohesive with his brand, and with a simple accessible store, so Lex can manage it independently.

  • IndustryAthlete, speaker, author
  • PlatformWebflow (rebuilt from WordPress)
  • EngagementAccessible design + build + audit
  • StandardWCAG 2.1 AA
THE CHALLENGE

A blind athlete who could not use his own website

Lex Gillette is a world-record Paralympic long jumper, speaker, and author, and a blind screen reader user. His WordPress site was inaccessible, even to him: he could not navigate or manage it independently. He needed a site he could run himself, cohesive with his brand, with a simple, accessible way to sell books and merchandise.

  1. Non-navigable menus that a screen reader could not move through.
  2. Unlabeled buttons and images that hid what actions were available.
  3. Poor contrast and inconsistent branding that made the site hard to read.
  4. Unstructured content that assistive technology could not interpret.
  5. A plugin-dependent WordPress base that made reliable accessibility fixes cumbersome.
OUR APPROACH

Accessible by design, from Figma to launch

We rebuilt the site in Webflow with accessibility embedded from the first wireframe, developed it with continuous accessibility oversight, and verified it across multiple audit rounds with real assistive technology.

Platform decision: WordPress to Webflow

After assessing the inaccessible WordPress site, we chose Webflow for a more structured, maintainable base that could reach WCAG 2.1 AA with design flexibility.

Accessible design in Figma

With our design partner we embedded contrast, focus order, and accessible interactive patterns into the wireframes and mockups before any build began.

Accessible Webflow development

Semantic HTML, ARIA where needed, full keyboard operability with logical tab order, and alt text for every image and graphic.

Iterative audits and AT testing

Multiple rounds of audits with Axe and WAVE plus manual testing on NVDA, VoiceOver, and JAWS, remediated between each round.

Accessible ecommerce

A simple, functional store with an accessible checkout so Lex can sell books and merchandise independently.

THE IMPACT

A website Lex can finally run himself

  • Lex can navigate and manage his own website independently for the first time.
  • A visually cohesive brand presence across athlete, speaker, and author.
  • An accessible ecommerce store with a checkout that works for everyone.
  • A structured, maintainable Webflow base, free of the old plugin fragility.
  • Every visitor, regardless of ability, can fully engage with the site.

Ready to make your store accessible?

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