Case Study - Educational resource
GaelicPlaceNames.org
A searchable reference explaining what Scottish and Irish place-names mean, how confident that meaning is, and how each name is pronounced.
The brief
What We Were Asked to Do
An independent educational resource needed a searchable, citation-minded way to explain what Scottish and Irish place-names mean - including how confident that meaning actually is, not just a flat answer.
Research & discovery
What We Looked Into First
- A confidence-rating system designed specifically so uncertain etymologies are labelled as uncertain, rather than presented with false authority.
- Content structured around searchable regions, naming elements and place types, built to scale to thousands of entries without a redesign.
What we recommended
Design & Visual Identity
An earthy, map-inspired palette - forest green, moss and parchment - chosen to feel like a considered reference work rather than a generic content site.
#1B4D3Eheader, footer, buttons#6C8F5AGaelic names, accents#2F6F7Elinks, informational#F2E6C9highlight panelsTypography
Clean, highly legible sans-serif suited to dense reference content.
Logo & identity
A calm, scholarly identity built to support the content rather than compete with it.
Verified results
Performance & Accessibility
Real Google Lighthouse audit (mobile), run 10 October 2026.
Accessibility: 28 of 30 automated checks passed
Automated testing can't catch everything, and it did flag a few real items here - shown openly rather than only reporting the headline score:
- One colour-contrast pairing flagged for review.
- One instance of links relying on colour alone to be distinguishable, flagged for a follow-up fix.
Site at a glance
The Numbers
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