Review the story before the polish
A launch checklist should begin with meaning, not animation. Open the homepage as if you had never seen the project. Can you tell what the organization offers, who it is for, and what to do next without reading every line? Ask someone outside the team to answer those three questions. If the answer changes from person to person, revisit the copy and visual hierarchy before tuning shadows or transitions.
Check every headline against the section beneath it. Remove placeholder text, outdated dates and claims that no longer match the work. Read the page aloud; awkward phrasing is easier to hear than to spot on a screen.
Check the assets at the size people actually see
Inspect hero images, cards and logos at desktop, tablet and phone widths. A crop that looks excellent at full size can remove a face or critical detail on a narrow screen. Confirm that each meaningful image has descriptive alternative text and that purely decorative imagery does not repeat nearby copy.
Keep source files large enough for sharp displays but serve appropriately sized derivatives. Test a slow connection, not just a fast office network. The first screen should become legible before lower-priority imagery finishes loading.
| Area | Question | Pass when |
|---|---|---|
| Content | Is the offer understandable? | A new visitor can explain it in one sentence. |
| Images | Do crops survive narrow screens? | Subjects and text remain visible at every breakpoint. |
| Navigation | Can every key page be reached? | Links and menus work with pointer and keyboard. |
| Forms | Can a visitor recover from an error? | Validation is clear and submission has feedback. |
Use the website without a mouse
Tab through the page from the top. The focus position should be visible, logical and never trapped behind a modal. Open menus, submit forms and close overlays using the keyboard. Check color contrast in both light and dark themes if the site supports them, and respect reduced-motion preferences for effects that are not essential.
Do not rely on color alone to explain a state. A red border without an error message leaves some visitors guessing. Labels should describe the action that will happen, especially for icon-only controls.
Launch with a way to learn
Before launch, confirm the canonical page addresses, title tags, descriptions and social previews. Make sure production is indexable when it should be, but do not mistake indexability for a promise of search traffic. Set up measurement for the few actions that matter to the site: an enquiry, a purchase, a booking or a meaningful navigation step.
After launch, revisit the site with real devices and real feedback. Keep a short list of problems discovered, assign an owner, and fix the highest-impact issue first. A website is launched on one day, but its usefulness is learned over time.