Asha Kartha
Many Clevelanders rely on social services and nonprofits in the community to get their basic needs met, but the digital age has exposed gaps in the quality of resources offered by local groups.
This isn’t just a question of aesthetics; a website that is out of date and difficult to navigate can make even the best resources in the city hard to find.
The Cleveland Observer surveyed websites operated by local nonprofits and community development corporations, or CDCs, to assess how easily Cleveland residents could find useful, current information.
To receive a high rating, websites had to meet three criteria: easy and accessible navigation, regular updates and useful information tailored to the population the organization served.
Modern and accessible web design that worked well across different devices distinguished the higher-rated websites from the rest. The Cleveland Observer reviewed nearly 50 websites from June 1 through Aug. 12, 2026, using Safari and Chrome on laptops and phones.
Each site was evaluated for navigation, current information, neighborhood-specific resources and mobile performance. Pages that failed to load were tested several times to distinguish slow service from nonfunctional sites.
Best overall websites
The West Park Kamm’s Community Development Corporation (CDC) and The Centers, a health and wellness organization, had websites that stood out.
These sites combined robust information with ease of use. Both offer extensive information for Clevelanders looking for resources, and manage to break it down into easy-to-understand pages that are easy to use and up to date.
West Park Kamm’s CDC strikes a balance between enticing new residents and catering to current residents with questions or support needs.
The site is modern and attractive and offers resources and information for businesses, prospective residents and current residents, all separated clearly. It provides information about transit options, resources for housing or seniors in the neighborhood and a “New Neighbor Guide” for future renters and buyers. It also offers pages of information for local business owners.
The event calendar is simple and up to date with upcoming events. Overall, the CDC effectively balances quality and quantity of information with a simple and clear system of organization.
The Centers’ website combines a clear and simple structure with detailed information. The homepage highlights four main areas of service that users can rapidly access, but also has more granular information and drop-down menus that make information easy to find. Although the organization offers a wide variety of services at multiple locations across the city, users can easily find the information they need.
Needs improvement
The Westown CDC performed poorly in all three categories, making it an example of the importance of regular digital maintenance.
The site has a cover story from 2021, blank pages, web design elements reminiscent of the early 2000s and loaded slowly during repeated tests.
It wasn’t always clear whether a page was not loading or if it had loaded but was hard to use.
The site appears to have gone without recent updates and has a layout that made information difficult to locate during the review, making it a challenge to find information about Westown resources.
Though other CDCs around the city have weak points, Westown stands out for failing to meet all three criteria for a good website.
Strong performers
The Northwest Neighborhoods CDC is up to date, with a clearly demarcated and well-developed resources page for the Cudell, Edgewater and Detroit Shoreway neighborhoods. The Metro West site highlights helpful housing and economic development information, though the main page is scaled to be a bit hard to navigate.
Another notable site is the Fairfax Renaissance CDC website. Though the site could benefit from increased organization, the information is robust and stands out for publicizing hyperlocal resources well. It names programs and tools located in the neighborhood and designed for Fairfax residents specifically, including the Lunch Buddies program at Bolton Elementary and the Fairfax Neighborhood Technology Center.
Usability issues
Many sites had usability issues, including slow loading, pages that failed to display and outdated designs or content. Some appeared more modern but were not being kept up to date or were hard to navigate.
During the review on multiple days in July, the Little Italy website loaded intermittently and required repeated refreshes; when it loaded, the design was good, but when it failed, it was hard to use or required multiple reloads.
The Harvard Community Services Center, serving Lee-Harvard, Miles and Seville, was offline when the survey of local sites began, but it was online when rechecked July 27.
Upon returning to functionality, the site proved to be well designed and comprehensive. Barring future functionality issues, it is a great resource for Clevelanders.
The website for Project H.O.P.E., an organization offering health services to Clevelanders, mainly in the St. Clair-Superior and Glenville neighborhoods, has many useful pages describing its services and offering health education information, but can be difficult to navigate easily between sections.
Sites for organizations such as the Famicos Foundation, the CDC serving Hough and Glenville, and the Burten, Bell, Carr Development Inc., the CDC serving Kinsman, provided useful information but had designs that could be difficult to navigate, especially on small screens, which may make finding important information a challenge.
Confusing content
Many CDCs had sites with usable and modern designs that focused primarily on attracting new residents or visitors and highlighting real estate options or commerce in the neighborhood. Many provide programs and services for current residents, including housing, neighborhood development and other assistance.
Many website designs do not reflect this, mixing information for existing residents with marketing for new residents, or emphasizing neighborhood promotion to visitors over services for residents.
On the Tremont West CDC website, block club information sits alongside real estate company recommendations, mixing resident resources with promotional content.
The Little Italy CDC website is also up to date with current event and visitor information but has comparatively few resident-service resources.
The Ohio City CDC and NuPoint CDC websites were attractive and modern, but their dense layouts made some information difficult to locate.
During the review in July, the University Circle CDC website’s “Live: For Current Residents” tab only featured out-of-date community meeting information and an empty job listing page.
Meanwhile, the “Visit” tabs contained significantly more information. The site provided more information for vistors than current residents.
The Westown CDC “helpful links” drop-down menu contained one page providing an empty list of nonprofit organizations, and another with general information for the Greater Cleveland area, rather than Westown-specific resources.
What made websites effective
For any groups starting from scratch, the Old Brooklyn CDC site is a good guide. It is not the most comprehensive site, but it is up to date and easy to navigate, and offers simple and helpful tools for residents.
Organizations experiencing slow load times and performance issues could ask their web-hosting providers or developers to review hosting performance and other technical causes to improve loading and rendering speeds and cut down on confusing and frustrating user experiences.
Nonprofits could form partnerships with residents, local companies, local computer science programs or student volunteers to improve website design and maintenance.
They could also compare their sites with effective local and national examples to identify best practices to make a website successful.
For sites without design issues but weaker content, a complete overhaul might not be needed.
Instead, they could focus on improving user experiences by separating resources for existing residents from promotional material and adding more neighborhood-specific information to improve usability.
For many Cleveland residents seeking assistance, an organization’s website is the first stop. When information is outdated, difficult to find or overshadowed by promotional content, those residents may never reach the services they need.
The review found that clear organization, current information and resident-focused resources made services easier to locate, while outdated pages, difficult navigation and promotional content made them harder to find.
The best websites demonstrate that accessible, regularly updated sites do not require flashy design. Clear organization, accurate information and a focus on community needs are more important.
The review suggests that maintaining an effective digital presence is an important part of serving residents.
Asha Kartha is a student at Case Western Reserve studying religious studies, theater and civil engineering.
