“Designing for Accessibility and Conversion at Lewis Law Firm

Enhanced readability and navigation leads to reduced bounce rates, resulting in increased conversions and improved customer engagement.
COMPANY

Anonymous law firm

ROLE

Web Designer

EXPERTISE

UX / UI Design, Research

YEAR

2024

Problem

How do we improve user engagement and conversion rates while maintaining the firm’s strong search rankings? Despite ranking #1 on Google, the website suffered from an 85% bounce rate and low conversions. Users spent an average of 19 seconds on the site before leaving, failing to reach the Contact page.

Solution

A UX audit revealed poor design choices—unreadable fonts, inaccessible colors, and confusing navigation—that drove users away. By enhancing visual design, accessibility, and user flow, we aimed to reduce bounce rates and improve conversions.

Design Process

1. Site Audit & Findings

• Visual Issues: Poor font sizing, awkward kerning, and inaccessible red accents caused readability problems.

• Color Accessibility: Tools like Colors.review confirmed the red-on-dark contrast was straining users’ eyes.

• First Impressions Matter: Studies show 38% of users abandon a site due to bad design—this site was no exception.


2. Data-Driven Insights

• Google Analytics: Users left within 19 seconds, well below the 30-second engagement threshold identified by Nielsen Norman Group.

• Path Exploration (GA4): Users weren’t reaching the Contact page, a major conversion blocker.

• SEO Analysis: Unoptimized titles & keywords weren’t retaining users after they clicked through from search results.


3. Key Improvements

• Typography Upgrade: Implemented Lato for better readability, increased paragraph text size from 16px to 18px.

• Color & Accessibility: Replaced red highlights with bold styling for contrast without strain.

• Navigation & UI Enhancements: Enlarged header menu & phone number, added hover states for buttons, improved call-to-action visibility.

• SEO Optimization: Refined page titles and keywords to align with user intent.

Changes:

  • Implemented Lato across all pages. Lato is a great font because it has a high x-height, it has open apertures for more legibility, and it’s a modern, clean font

  • Bumped up paragraph text size from 16px to 18px

  • All text that was highlighted red will now be bold / 600 as well as bumped up 1px to help it stand out against the white text and dark background

  • Change in font & size of the Header menu

  • Added hover states to buttons - default, hover, & on press

  • Enlarged phone number in Header

Summary

By improving visual design, accessibility, and user flow, we transformed the site from a high-bounce, low-engagement platform into a user-friendly experience that effectively guided visitors toward conversion.

Impact & Results

✅ Bounce rate significantly reduced after design improvements.

✅ Increased conversion rates—users stayed longer and reached the Contact page.