Accessibility Audit & PHP Upgrade for Aroha Capital

The Problem

Aroha Capital’s WordPress site had accumulated two compounding problems. On the surface, it failed basic accessibility standards — missing alt text, low-contrast text, and keyboard navigation that didn’t work. Underneath, the site was running PHP 7.4, a version that had reached end-of-life and was no longer receiving security patches. Several installed plugins had also drifted out of compatibility.

The Approach

I ran a full WCAG 2.1 AA audit and addressed every failure: added descriptive alt text throughout, corrected contrast ratios across all text and interface elements, and rebuilt the keyboard navigation flow so the site was fully operable without a mouse.

On the technical side, I migrated the server environment to a current, supported PHP version, then audited every installed plugin for compatibility — replacing or removing anything that wouldn’t work in the upgraded environment. I replaced the outdated theme with Astra, a lightweight and well-maintained WordPress theme that gave the site a cleaner front-end and a stable base going forward.

The Result

The site now meets WCAG 2.1 AA standards, runs on a supported PHP version with active security updates, and has a plugin stack that’s fully compatible with its environment. What had been a liability — a site that excluded users and was running unsupported software — is now a well-maintained, accessible presence.