A board in St. Catharines can spend months comparing mockups and still hire a shop that keeps the domain in their own name. Pretty screenshots do not tell you who owns the files, who trains staff, or whether a donor can tab to Give.
This is a practical brief for Ontario charities and community groups that need a website design company in Canada they can live with after launch. Clinics can use the same list for hours and booking. It sits beside our notes on how to choose a web agency in Canada and questions to ask before you hire.
Who this is for
You run programs, not a software company. You need a public site that names the mission, takes a gift or a volunteer form, and stays current when staff change.
Use this list when:
- A volunteer built the last site and nobody has the password
- An offshore quote looks cheap until you count training and hosting
- The board wants Canadian hosting or a named contact in Niagara
- You already know you need nonprofit website design Ontario work, not a template with a logo dropped on it
If you already have a partner who answers these in writing, skip to the homepage checks.
Ownership comes first
Put this in the first email, not the last invoice.
A serious website design company in Canada leaves the organization as owner. After launch you should be able to change partners without rebuilding from scratch.
Confirm:
- Whose name is on the domain registrar
- Whose credit card pays for hosting, and whether you can move the site without a ransom
- Who holds the WordPress administrator account
- Where backups live, and how you restore on a Tuesday
If they say they keep admin so nothing breaks, that is a lock-in, not a service.
Accessibility lives in the theme
Ontario’s page on how to make websites accessible is clear: the organization that controls the site, directly or through a contractor, must meet the rules. As of January 1, 2021, designated public sector organizations and businesses or non-profits with 50 or more employees must make public websites and content posted after January 1, 2012 meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA, with two media exceptions (live captions and pre-recorded audio descriptions). Smaller charities still have donors and volunteers who cannot use a mouse. A practical build target is WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
Ontario even lists questions to ask a developer:
- Are you familiar with WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA?
- Have you shipped an accessible site, with links you can check?
- Do you test with automated tools, manual checks, and assistive technology such as a screen reader?
Add your own:
- Can I tab through Donate and Volunteer without getting stuck?
- Do buttons say “Donate $25,” not “Submit”?
- Is contrast on the Give button strong enough, or only pretty?
An overlay plugin is not a plan. Labels and headings live in the theme and the copy. Our AODA and WCAG guide walks through the same checks.
Staff publish. The agency keeps the platform healthy.
WordPress roles exist so the coordinator can post Friday’s food drive without an Administrator login.
Ask:
- Which role will staff use (Editor, not five Super Admins)?
- Who trains two people, on a phone, for thirty minutes?
- What happens when someone leaves: disable the user, or rebuild?
If the agency is the only one who can add a snow-day closure, you hired a bottleneck. That is why we wrote WordPress for Canadian nonprofits around staff updates, not around the agency’s dashboard.
What the homepage has to do
Google’s SEO starter guide is enough for most boards: honest titles, useful headings, pages that answer the query.
Ask the agency to show, on a phone:
- Who you help and where (St. Catharines, Welland, Niagara Falls), in the first screen
- One primary action (Donate or Volunteer), not four buttons at the same volume
- Hours and a tap-to-call number that match Google Business Profile
- Program pages that name the town and the next date, not a slogan that could live in any city
If they lead with “empowering communities” and never name the food bank, keep looking.
Forms, receipts, and privacy
Donors bounce when a form asks for a life story.
Ask:
- Which fields are required, and why?
- Where do error messages sit (next to the field, in plain words)?
- Who issues tax receipts, and does that tool look like your organization?
- Where is personal information stored, and who can see it?
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s guidelines for processing personal data across borders note that PIPEDA does not ban transfers to another country, but you remain responsible for the information. If the board wants Canadian hosting, say so in the brief. If you send newsletters, read Canada’s anti-spam rules before anyone promises a weekly blast.
Scope, money, and what “done” means
A cheap homepage with no training is not cheap.
Get in writing:
- Pages in scope, and what a new program page costs later
- Content: who writes, who supplies photos, who writes alt text
- Timeline with real dates, not “Q4”
- Support after launch: hours, response time, what is included vs. billed
- How they handle a broken donate form on a Saturday
Ask for two live charity or clinic sites, not only Dribbble shots. Call those clients if you can.
NativaWeb is a St. Catharines digital agency. We build WordPress sites for Niagara and Ontario nonprofits with this split: staff publish, we keep the platform healthy, accessibility lives in the theme.
A one-page scorecard you can print
Score each shop 0 (no), 1 (vague), or 2 (in writing):
- Organization owns domain, hosting, and admin
- WCAG tested without an overlay
- Two staff trained on Editor
- Donate or Volunteer in the first screen on a phone
- Forms, receipts, and data location named
- After-launch hours and a Saturday plan
Twelve is a working partner. Below eight, you are buying a brochure.
If you want a second pair of eyes on a quote, book a free consultation. We will look at the homepage on a phone with you and tell you what we would change first.
