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Sample Audit · Unpaid & Unsolicited

Independent Website Audit Preview: San José Spotlight

Site reviewed: sanjosespotlight.com Prepared by: ZenMasterWorks Date: June 2026
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Methodology & scope: This is a preview-level audit built entirely from publicly available information — the site's content as returned to a standard fetch, the kind search engine crawlers use. No production or staging access was requested or used, and no full browser-based device testing was performed for this unpaid preview. Every finding below was directly observed by fetching the live pages, not inferred from third-party data.
Findings

What stood out

Critical

Every email address on the Contact Us page is unreadable without JavaScript

The Contact page exists specifically to give readers, donors, tipsters, and job applicants a way to reach the newsroom — but all four email addresses on it (submissions, corrections, news tips, and employment) are obfuscated in a way that renders as literal placeholder text, [email​protected], to anything that doesn't execute the decoding script. Search engines, some accessibility tools, and any automated directory checking for a real contact address would see that exact placeholder text instead of a working email.

  • sanjosespotlight.com/contact-us/ — 4 separate email addresses, all rendering as "[email protected]"
Critical

The donation and membership link points to a staging server

On the live Contact Us page, the link inviting readers to become a sustaining donor points to a WP Engine staging/development domain, not the real, production donation page. For a nonprofit newsroom that runs on reader donations, sending potential donors toward a non-production environment is a direct risk to actual revenue, not just a cosmetic bug.

  • sanjosespotlight.com/contact-us/ — "Donations" link points to sjspotlightde.wpengine.com
Low

Homepage social-share image is undersized

The homepage's Open Graph image is declared at 426×285 pixels, well below the 1200×630 current platform guidance for crisp rendering on social media link previews — a real factor for a newsroom whose stories are shared primarily through social platforms.

For Balance

What's genuinely working

A genuinely active, frequently updated newsroom — multiple original stories published daily, with real bylines and clear beat organization across local government, housing, business, and community coverage.

Transparent nonprofit disclosure — the 501(c)(3) status and tax ID are stated plainly in the footer of every page, not buried in a separate legal document.

Genuine multilingual commitment — dedicated Latinx and Vietnamese community coverage sections, not just a translated homepage.

A real, broad multi-channel presence — active Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, and even Reddit accounts, alongside a working RSS feed.

This is the preview. The full audit goes much further.

A complete engagement would confirm exactly how widely the staging link and email obfuscation issue appear sitewide, test every contact path across real browsers, and review technical SEO health across the full site — delivered as one prioritized report, with no production access required.

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