Case Study
Decoding Dyslexia Minnesota called on ArcStone to create an accessible, dyslexia-friendly website.
Decoding Dyslexia Minnesota is a parent-led nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about dyslexia, supporting families, and advocating for evidence-based educational policies. As part of the national Decoding Dyslexia movement, DDMN emerged from the urgent need for systemic change in how schools identify, understand, and support students with dyslexia. The organization was founded by parents who experienced firsthand the challenges of navigating educational systems that often failed to recognize or properly address dyslexia, leaving countless students struggling without appropriate support.
The organization serves as a critical bridge between families, educators, and policymakers, working to ensure that all students with dyslexia receive the evidence-based instruction and support they need to succeed. DDMN focuses on legislative advocacy, educational outreach, and community building while providing essential resources for parents navigating dyslexia diagnosis and educational planning. Their work has contributed to significant policy changes in Minnesota, including improvements in teacher training requirements and dyslexia screening protocols, directly impacting thousands of students across the state.
Our Role
- WordPress Redesign & Development
- Accessibility Implementation (WCAG 2.1 AA)
- Brand Refresh & Logo Simplification
- NationBuilder Integration (WP Fusion)
- Content Migration (50+ pages)
- SEO Optimization
- Staff Training & Support
The Challenge:
Decoding Dyslexia Minnesota’s existing website was visually outdated, difficult to navigate, and overwhelming for key audiences including parents, teachers, and policymakers. The complex branding didn’t work well in small formats, and the NationBuilder integration lacked clarity, creating barriers for users trying to engage with the organization’s advocacy efforts. Most critically, the site needed to be accessible for neurodiverse users and employ dyslexia-friendly design principles while serving users of all ages and technical comfort levels.
The organization faced unique challenges in serving a community where reading difficulties are central to the user experience. Traditional web design approaches often create additional barriers for individuals with dyslexia, including overwhelming visual layouts, poor typography choices, and complex navigation structures. The website needed to demonstrate accessibility best practices while effectively communicating complex educational and policy information to diverse audiences including frustrated parents seeking immediate help, busy educators looking for classroom resources, and policymakers requiring research-based evidence for legislative decisions.
Our Approach
ArcStone delivered a complete WordPress redesign focused on accessibility and readability, with every design decision informed by dyslexia-friendly best practices. We simplified the brand visuals and refreshed the logo for better scalability while maintaining organizational recognition within the advocacy community. The new site architecture prioritized resource-based navigation with clear pathways for different user types, ensuring parents, educators, and advocates could quickly find relevant information without cognitive overload.
Our approach centered on implementing evidence-based design principles that support neurodiverse users, including carefully selected typography with appropriate letter spacing, clear visual hierarchy with sufficient white space, and color contrast that meets accessibility standards while remaining visually appealing. We integrated WP Fusion for seamless NationBuilder connectivity, ensuring the organization’s advocacy campaigns and member communications remained uninterrupted during the transition.
The content migration process involved restructuring over 50 pages of resources, policy information, and educational materials to improve findability and readability. We implemented strategic SEO optimization targeting searches by families newly facing dyslexia diagnosis, educators seeking evidence-based interventions, and advocates looking for policy resources. Our team provided comprehensive staff training focused on maintaining accessibility standards and dyslexia-friendly practices in ongoing content creation and site management.
Reviewing The Results
We wanted to use our established relationship to execute a redesign project that met all their goals and would drive their mission forward. With such a critical vision and broad audience, Student Leadership Network needed a website to speak to its partners, beneficiaries, and donors.
The resulting website is interactive, user-friendly, and easy to navigate. SLN supports thousands of young people growing up in diverse and underserved communities, and we are thrilled to help them continue their incredible work.
3 Million Position Improvement
Search ranking jumped from 6.4M to 3.4M, making dyslexia advocacy resources significantly more discoverable for parents and educators.
625% Traffic Growth
Monthly organic visitors increased from 16 to 116, dramatically expanding reach to families seeking dyslexia support and resources.
69% Domain Authority Growth
Referring domains increased from 131 to 221, strengthening credibility within the education and advocacy community.