A Bold New Website for an Inclusive Arts Charity

Under The Stars has a diverse and passionate audience, including workshop participants, carers and families, funders, volunteers, and event attendees. The old website was outdated in both design and functionality, making it hard to navigate and limiting the team’s ability to showcase their work or manage key activities online.

A major requirement was accessibility. Many of the charity’s service users have varying access needs, so the site had to be highly inclusive, with clear design, user-friendly navigation, and support for assistive technologies.

From an operational perspective, Under The Stars also needed a streamlined and more trackable way to sell tickets to their events. Alongside this, they wanted a new way to encourage donations, a platform to showcase their merchandise, and a system to log on-the-door ticket sales at events.

Additionally, they wanted a site that could:

• Display upcoming events and allow users to easily purchase tickets via Stripe
• Integrate Raisely for donations
• House a shop using WooCommerce to sell branded merchandise with size and colour options
• Highlight Bandcamp artist pages for their musicians
• Allow both participants and carers to enquire about joining workshops
• Offer multiple ways to support or volunteer for the charity
• Showcase the charity’s work through an embedded banner video filmed and produced by our team
• Host a blog to promote upcoming performances and initiatives
• Communicate their rich history and mission through a detailed About page

The new site had to be visually engaging, informative, and as inclusive as the charity itself.

Our first step was to get to know the charity inside and out, attending events, consulting with the team, and immersing ourselves in the Under the Stars world. This informed the design direction, ensuring the new site reflected the vibrancy and warmth of the organisation while remaining simple and accessible to all users.

We built a fully bespoke WordPress website with accessibility features baked into every stage, from typography and contrast ratios to intuitive layouts and assistive tagging. Clear headings, descriptive link text, and straightforward content structure ensure the site is usable for visitors of all abilities.

The site was carefully structured around audience needs, with clear pathways for:

• Participants and carers to find out more and enquire about workshops
• Funders and donors to see the impact of the work and support the charity
• Volunteers to get involved
• Event-goers to browse upcoming performances and buy tickets

For events, we integrated a Stripe-powered ticketing system, allowing Under the Stars to sell and track tickets directly from their site, with clear reporting tools in the backend. We also implemented a door sales tool, so staff can record on-the-night attendance for events, giving the team better data and more flexibility.

To support fundraising, we integrated Raisely for a smooth and secure donation process. The site also features a full WooCommerce shop for merchandise, complete with options for different sizes and colours, a first for the charity and a great way to celebrate their brand and artist’s work.

We also created links to their Bandcamp artist pages, promoting participant music and increasing exposure for their talented performers.

A key visual feature is the banner video that opens the homepage, filmed by our team to capture the excitement and energy of Under The Stars events. This video gives new visitors an immediate, emotive insight into the charity’s impact, featuring powerful clips from nightclubs, concerts, and productions.

Finally, we developed a blog area to allow the team to publish news and announcements, and a rich About section telling the story of the charity’s roots, evolution, and achievements, reinforcing their credibility to partners, funders, and new audiences.

The new Under The Stars website is a bold step forward for the charity, inclusive, expressive, and designed to evolve alongside them. It empowers the team to manage events, drive donations, and grow their audience with confidence, all while offering a seamless experience for the people who matter most: their participants and supporters.

Now fully accessible, responsive, and engaging, the site better reflects the quality and ambition of Under The Stars. Ticket sales are easier to manage and report on, merchandise sales are live for the first time, and the charity has a stronger platform to promote their incredible work and attract vital support.

By combining creativity, technical functionality, and inclusive design, we’ve delivered a platform that helps Under the Stars shine online, just as brightly as they do in real life.