Practical resources
Useful checklists for work that needs to hold up.
Three original guides for teams preparing a site, protecting the accounts behind it, or setting a project up with clear expectations.
Checklist one
Accessibility before launch
Use this before sharing a new page, form, event flow, or site update. It is a practical review, not a certification or legal determination.
- Write down the one or two most important visitor journeys, such as finding event information, completing a donation, or requesting help.
- Check that each page has one clear page heading and that headings follow a useful hierarchy rather than being chosen only for visual size.
- Use real labels for every form field. Make required fields, errors, and successful submission messages understandable without relying on color alone.
- Give meaningful images concise alternative text; mark decorative images as decorative so they do not add noise for screen-reader users.
- Complete the key journeys using only a keyboard. Visible focus should move in a sensible order, and no control should trap it.
- Zoom the page to 200 percent and test it on a narrow screen. Text, buttons, and form controls should remain usable without losing content.
- Check text and control contrast against their actual backgrounds, including hover, focus, and disabled states.
- Assign someone to receive and act on accessibility feedback after launch.
Checklist two
Account security for a small team
Start with the accounts that could lock the organization out of its own work: email, the domain registrar, website hosting, fundraising, finance, and social platforms.
- Make an inventory of critical accounts, their purpose, the current owner, and where recovery information is held.
- Give each staff member or volunteer an individual login. Do not share one password among multiple people.
- Store unique, long passwords in an approved password manager rather than in a browser note, spreadsheet, or email thread.
- Turn on multi-factor authentication, starting with primary email, the domain registrar, and financial or donation accounts. Prefer an authenticator app or security key where available.
- Keep recovery codes in a limited-access, documented location that is separate from the daily login device.
- Review access when someone changes roles or leaves. Remove access promptly and transfer ownership before a personal email or phone becomes unavailable.
- Confirm that software, plugins, and devices receive updates, and that essential files have a tested backup or export path.
- Write down who to contact and what to secure first if an account appears compromised.
Checklist three
Scope a project before asking for a proposal
A short, honest brief helps a partner recommend the right first step. It is more useful than trying to solve every future need in one request.
- Name the project owner and the people who can make timely decisions or approvals.
- Describe the audience and the single most important change the work should make for them.
- List the pages, features, content, integrations, or materials you already know are needed.
- Separate launch needs from later ideas. A first release should be complete enough to be useful, not an unfinished version of everything.
- Identify dependencies early: existing tools, data, domain access, content contributors, legal review, event dates, and third-party approvals.
- State constraints honestly, including budget range, desired timing, internal capacity, and any requirements that cannot move.
- Agree on what approval looks like at each milestone and who gives it.
- Decide how changes will be recorded and evaluated once work begins, so a new request does not silently become assumed scope.
- Plan the handoff: account ownership, training, documentation, support contact, and the first post-launch review.
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