Lauri Liimatta

Design and accessibility expertise to strengthen equality on the web.

I'm a web designer and accessibility specialist that helps associations, foundations and public benefit corporations by making accessible websites and web services. I operate from Helsinki, Finland but work with clients from all around Finland and Europe.

Since 2008 my clients have known me as a trustworthy professional who works fast without giving up on quality and as one who advocates for sustainable and long lasting solutions. I always strive for clear and open communication without industry jargon. The end results that I create are user focused and they take your needs into account as well.

My design methodology is content-driven meaning that I don't just make pretty designs but designs that build around your content and message. In practice what this means is that every design process starts with producing all the content first. Content production as the foundation ensures that the end result is not just eye candy, but quality work that serves everyone.

Get in touch

Services

1. Web design and development

I design and develop modern websites where accessibility is built-in, not added as an afterthought. Fixing accessibility after the fact means reopening design decisions, rewriting code, and retesting everything. Considering accessibility from the start costs nothing extra and improves the end result for all visitors, not just for those with disabilities. As an end result you'll get a site that is practical, stylish, and fast — easy for your customers to navigate and easy for you to manage.

Websites include a maintenance service that covers regular security updates. I enjoy building long-term client relationships, which naturally includes ongoing site development. Depending on your needs, we can arrange regular accessibility audits or other continued work so that your site remains in excellent condition year after year without you constantly having to search for a new developer.

All websites I create also include onboarding training, which can be conducted remotely or on-site.

2. Accessibility statements and audits

The Digital Services Act requires many organizations to have accessible websites and services. An accessibility audit is a comprehensive technical assessment of your website's accessibility. Through the audit, you receive a report on your site's current status as well as practical development suggestions on how to improve the accessibility level of your website or service.

The assessment is based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 and its A and AA level success criteria. WCAG 2.2 can be described as the industry's accessibility standard.

Through the audit, I help you meet legal requirements in a way that improves the user experience for all visitors. As part of the accessibility audit, you also receive an accessibility statement for your website.
The assessment examines service accessibility in several ways:

Most commonly used web browsers
Various screen readers
Keyboard navigation

Accessibility audit prices (including accessibility statement) start from €1,680.

3. Web applications and services

When existing products or services don't meet your needs, the problem can be solved by designing and creating a fully customized web application tailored to your requirements. A custom web application is an investment worth considering when current solutions consume a lot of work time, don't scale, or require excessive resources to maintain. If Excel spreadsheets, disconnected applications, or other workarounds start slowing down work or causing errors, a professionally implemented system saves time and makes daily operations smoother.

4. Advice and consulting

I help associations find and adopt cost-effective open-source applications, as well as service providers located in EU countries, for various needs such as customer service ticketing systems, CRM systems, documentation/knowledge bases, newsletters, server providers, etc. With the right tools, you save time and money while increasing your organization's efficiency.

Work

Pohjanmaan tanssi ry, Dans i Österbotten rf (2025)

When Pohjanmaan tanssi ry came to me, they were struggling with an old WordPress website which they had hard time updating. The old website had templates and technical implementations that meant that they had to memorise and do certain tricks each time they wanted their latest content appear correctly on the website. Overall, working with the old website was a chore for them instead of something pleasant and intuitive.

As part of Pohjanmaan tanssi ry's values they want to make dance as widely accessible as possible in the Ostrobothnia region. The old website had several accessibility issues that were in violation of the WCAG 2.2 Guidelines. Alt texts were missing, contrast issues were present, keyboard navigation worked in illogical order, semantic HTML was a mess and focus style was completely missing, just a name a few.

The goals for the new website were clear:

make the site accessible
make it easy to update for the client
make it work well on both mobile and desktop
start collecting visitor statistics
reduce the yearly website costs

Content first and design afterwards

When I started working with Pohjanmaan tanssi ry I first instructed them to gather and work on all the content they wanted to have on the new website. In all of my projects before I start working on the design it's a necessity to have all the real content ready because content is what makes the design, not the other way around. In Pohjanmaan tanssi ry's case, they had a big archive of past performances and photos from many different artists. For the design to serve the audience it was important to the client and me that the design would not be in the way of key information. Meaning, the site should foremost serve as a place where they could highlight the artists they work with and their works.

Two smartphones side by side with the Pohjanmaan tanssi ry website open on both screens — Screenshots of the new Pohjanmaan tanssi ry website on mobile devices

This process lead us to website design which is very clear and minimalistic. The new website uses a lot of photos provided by the different artists and because of this I chose a colour palette which doesn't compete for attention. It was also important to make sure the contrast issues of the old website would no longer be present in the new version.

No more struggling with WordPress

The new website uses a content management system called Kirby instead of WordPress. I chose Kirby CMS for its intuitive editing experience and performance, ensuring the client could manage content confidently without technical barriers. Adding new content to the website, which used to be burdensome task, can now be done in matter of minutes by the client. With Kirby as the content management system the client can also now manage all the content in three different languages (Finnish, English and Swedish) with ease.

Throughout the development phase the website was continuously tested with accessibility testing tools and achieved WCAG 2.2 AA compliance. The end result is a modern, clear, accessible and fast website that the client is now loving to use. Pohjanmaan tanssi ry thanked me for guiding them professionally and not being afraid to share my own opinions. They also highlighted how I throughout the whole process spoke and explained everything in a way that made the whole process accessible and understandable for them as well.

A laptop with the Pohjanmaan tanssi ry website open on the screen — Screenshot of the new Pohjanmaan tanssi ry website's article view

Their old website did not collect any visitor statistics. This was fixed on the new website by integrating the services of GDPR friendly analytics provider, Plausible. Visitor statistics are vital information for non-profits like Pohjanmaan tanssi ry. For example they can now report to their financiers how many people they reach annually via their website.

Lastly, I brought down the yearly costs by 6.4% despite the addition of a new paid service (Plausible Analytics). Since the original costs were not that high to begin with this cost reduction stayed rather small. The reduction was accomplished by helping the client to switch to Microsoft 365's non-profit plan and changing the web hosting company.

"Having experienced several different website projects, the entire process with Lauri was truly effortless and easy for us as the client. Right from the start, we received expert feedback and guidance on our plans. Lauri's approach is very flexible and attentive. Through close collaboration, our website turned out better than we could have hoped for! Special mention goes to the fact that while our website is as accessible as possible for visitors, the project itself was also accessible to us as clients. Lauri avoided the kind of professional jargon that non-professionals find difficult to understand. So throughout the entire process, we were well informed about what would be done next, and also what was expected from us. A warm recommendation for Lauri!"

–Reija Penttinen, producer & communications specialist, Pohjanmaan tanssi ry

Visit the new website of Pohjanmaan tanssi ryLink opens in a new window

Get in touch

Are you interested in a new website? Is your current website missing an accessibility statement? Do you need help with some other challenge? Get in touch and let's find the solution for you.

Lauri Liimatta
lauri@lauriliimatta.com
+3584578302234

VAT-ID:
FI21704111