The project

The National Pug Protection Trust (NPPT) is a UK-based charity dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming pugs in need. With a growing network of volunteers and supporters, they needed a website that not only raised awareness but also streamlined their adoption and donation processes.

Our aims

The previous online presence lacked clarity, accessibility, and ease of use. NPPT needed a website that:

• Was easy to navigate for users of all abilities
• Had a warm and engaging design to reflect the charity’s values
• Made donating and applying to adopt a seamless experience
• Performed well across all devices and browsers

We worked closely with NPPT to understand their audience and goals. Our solution included:

• Accessibility-first design – Ensuring WCAG compliance for a frictionless user experience
• Clear user journeys – Making it effortless to donate, volunteer, or adopt
• Performance-focused build – Fast-loading pages optimised for mobile and desktop
• Content structure & SEO – Improving visibility and engagement

The result

• A highly accessible, user-friendly website that embodies NPPT’s mission
• Increased engagement from potential adopters and donors
• A sustainable, easy-to-manage platform for future growth

Evolving the Brand Identity

Before the redesign, the National Pug Protection Trust had a visual identity that didn’t fully align with its mission. The colours and typography lacked cohesion, and the overall aesthetic didn’t convey the warmth, trust, and professionalism needed to connect with their audience.

As part of the project, we refined the brand palette to create a more approachable, accessible, and consistent identity. The new colours were carefully chosen to reflect compassion, reliability, and energy, ensuring the charity’s online presence felt inviting and engaging.

Below, you can see a comparison of the previous brand palette versus the new, refined palette, which now provides better contrast, readability, and emotional impact.

The old palette

The new palette

Enhancing Accessibility with Improved Colour Contrast

Ensuring strong colour contrast is essential for readability, especially for users with visual impairments. The previous National Pug Protection Trust website had several areas where text contrast was too low, making content harder to read - particularly for those with colour blindness or low vision.

We conducted a thorough WCAG 2 and WCAG 3 contrast analysis, identifying areas that fell below the recommended contrast ratios. Using these insights, we refined the colour palette and adjusted text/background combinations to meet at least WCAG 2 AA standards, with many elements now aligning with WCAG 3 APCA (Advanced Perceptual Contrast Algorithm) recommendations.

The visual comparison below highlights the before-and-after improvements, showing how the updated contrast ensures greater readability and compliance with modern accessibility standards.

The old site

The updated brand

Optimising for Performance with Core Web Vitals

A great website isn’t just about looks. It needs to perform well, too. Google’s Core Web Vitals measure how fast, responsive, and stable a site feels for users. These metrics impact both user experience and SEO rankings, making them crucial for any modern website.

Before the redesign, the National Pug Protection Trust website struggled with slow load times, layout shifts, and unoptimised assets, leading to a subpar user experience. By implementing performance best practices (including optimised images, streamlined code, and efficient caching), we significantly improved the site’s Core Web Vitals scores.

The result? Faster page loads, smoother interactions, and a more accessible experience for all visitors.

Tech used

• Static site generation with Astro
• CSS transformations with PostCSS
• Front end build tasks with Gulp
• Hosted on Vercel
• Code stored on GitHub
• Print on demand services via RedBubble
• Emails powered by Resend
• Checkout powered by Stripe

Reyt good

The National Pug Protection Trust now has a website that truly serves its cause. By combining thoughtful design, accessibility, and solid performance, we’ve created a platform that helps pugs in need - one paw at a time. 🐶

• National Pug Protection Trust
• NPPT on Facebook
• NPPT fundraising on Facebook