Enhancing American Councils' Website with Drupal 10 for Improved Performance and Usability

American Councils for International Education, a long-time nonprofit partner dedicated to advancing international education and exchange programs, once again teamed up with Inclind to upgrade their flagship website from Drupal 9 to Drupal 10. The primary goals of this project were to improve site performance, security, and accessibility while continuing to engage a diverse, global audience.

Upgrading from Drupal 9 to 10 posed several key challenges:

• Module Compatibility: The transition introduced compatibility issues, such as moving from CKEditor 4 to CKEditor 5 and replacing several outdated modules.
• Outdated Code: Custom modules and themes contained legacy code, posing site functionality and security risks.
• Performance Optimization: Inefficiencies, including issues with the Image Lazyloader module, affected page load speeds and user experience, impacting SEO.

Inclind approached these challenges with a methodical strategy to ensure a successful upgrade:

1. Backend Optimization and Module Compatibility: Performed a thorough audit of all modules and themes, addressing deprecated code and enabling seamless integration with Drupal 10. We replaced unnecessary modules and integrated CKEditor 5 to streamline content management.
2. Performance Enhancements: Optimized website speed by fixing bugs in the Image Lazyloader and applying techniques aligned with Google Core Web Vitals, improving performance.
3. Content Management Workflows: Streamlined processes to reduce administrative effort and enhance efficiency for the American Councils team.
4. Accessibility Upgrades:  Implemented changes to meet WCAG 2.2 AA standards, promoting a more inclusive user experience. 
5. Enhanced Search Capabilities: Upgraded the Apache Solr search engine for faster and more accurate search results, enabling users to find educational programs and resources efficiently.
6. Rigorous Testing and QA: Carried out extensive quality assurance and user acceptance testing throughout the project to guarantee a smooth upgrade without disruptions.