Title: Navigating a Corporate Website Migration Gone Awry: A Case Study in Web Governance and Best Practices

Introduction

In today’s digital landscape, maintaining a compliant and well-structured online presence is crucial for any organization. However, not all website updates follow best practices, especially when driven by non-technical decision-makers. This article discusses a recent real-world scenario where a company’s leadership undertook a website migration without involving technical experts, leading to numerous challenges. We’ll explore the implications of such actions and outline strategies for effective intervention and governance.

Background

The company’s Managing Director (MD), possessing no formal web development knowledge, initiated an abrupt migration of their existing, WCAG 2.1 AA-compliant, self-hosted brochure website to a third-party platform—in this case, Wix. The goal was ostensibly to “center” the site’s content, but the process bypassed the professional development team entirely.

The Migration: What Happened?

• Unauthorized Platform Switch: The MD created a personal Wix account, duplicated some content, and directed an external infrastructure provider to host the site there.
• Lack of Documentation or Transparency: No clear documentation of changes, redirects, or domain configuration was provided, leaving staff uncertain about what was done.
• Performance and Accessibility Concerns: The resulting site now loads over 3MB before the first meaningful paint, featuring excessive JavaScript, bulky assets, and multiple inline styles. The site’s structure is cluttered, with elements poorly aligned and accessibility standards barely maintained.
• Domain and SEO Issues: The site switched from a branded domain to a raw domain, complicating SEO strategies and analytics integration.
• Cookie and Privacy Violations: The site sets several unconsented cookies, raising GDPR compliance concerns.
• User Experience Problems: The logo is difficult to reposition (a minor issue), and the site is riddled with technical quirks, including unresponsive layout elements and inconsistent rendering.

Implications of the Unauthorized Migration

This uncoordinated change has several ramifications:

• Legal and Compliance Risks: The site now potentially violates GDPR due to unconsented cookie usage and lacks accessibility compliance.
• Brand and SEO Integrity: Loss of proper redirects, canonical URLs, and domain configuration impacts search engine rankings.
• Operational Challenges: Inconsistent page loading times and poor user experience can impact stakeholder perceptions.
• Security and Maintenance: The use of inline styles and excessive assets complicates ongoing maintenance and troubleshooting