Case Study
Cascade Public Safety
A regional emergency communications agency needed a site that could be updated in minutes during a crisis — and accessed by every resident, regardless of ability or device.
The Result
Load time reduced from 8.2s to 1.1s — WCAG 2.1 AA compliant
About the Client
Cascade Public Safety Communications provides emergency coordination and public information services for a regional network of municipalities across Northern Colorado. Their public-facing site is often the first place residents turn during active emergency events.
01 / The Challenge
Where they were
before us.
Cascade's public-facing site was a slow, inaccessible relic. It failed WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards, loaded in over 8 seconds on mobile, and required IT department involvement to make any content update — a serious liability when public-facing information needs to change during an active incident. The communications team had no editorial independence. Critical emergency information was buried under layers of outdated navigation.
02 / Our Approach
What we
actually did.
Full WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility audit across every page — color contrast, keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, alt text architecture, and focus management
Information architecture rebuild prioritizing emergency alert visibility — residents should find critical resources in under two clicks from any page
WordPress CMS with a custom editorial workflow built specifically for the comms team's non-technical staff: one-click alert banners, a guided event publishing interface, and a live preview system
Performance optimization reducing load time from 8.2 seconds to 1.1 seconds — critical for residents accessing the site on mobile during emergencies
Custom site-wide alert banner system that the comms director can activate and update in a single click, without touching any page content
03 / The Solution
What we
delivered.
Rebuilt on WordPress with a custom CMS configuration designed entirely around the team's emergency communication workflows. WCAG 2.1 AA compliance was non-negotiable and verified by independent audit at launch. The comms team now publishes updates in under 60 seconds with zero IT involvement.
04 / The Results
The numbers.
Page load time (down from 8.2s)
WCAG 2.1 accessibility compliance
Time for comms team to publish emergency updates
Discovery to launch
During an active incident, our team can now update the public site in under a minute. That capability simply didn't exist before. Nerd Stack understood the stakes and delivered exactly what we needed.
Director of Public Communications
Cascade Public Safety
What We Delivered
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