What is a fractional CTO, and do I need one?

A fractional CTO is a senior technical leader who works part-time across one or more companies, typically one to two days a week. You likely need one if your team is shipping software but has no senior engineering voice in the room — for hiring, architecture, security, roadmap and tough technical decisions.

How much does a website accessibility audit cost?

A small marketing-site WCAG 2.2 audit typically starts around £1,500, with larger product audits in the £4,000–£10,000 range depending on the number of templates, components and user journeys. Every engagement includes a prioritised issue list and a remediation plan you can hand directly to your developers.

What is WCAG 2.2 and does my site need to comply?

WCAG 2.2 is the current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines standard. In the UK, public-sector sites are legally required to meet WCAG 2.2 AA under the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018. Private-sector sites are expected to be accessible under the Equality Act 2010 and increasingly under the European Accessibility Act from June 2025.

How long does a website performance audit take?

A typical performance audit takes one to two weeks: lab testing against Core Web Vitals, field-data review from real users, render-path analysis and a written report with prioritised fixes. Urgent engagements can be completed in a few days if the site is small and the issues are obvious.

Do you work with teams outside the UK?

Yes. chrimes.dev is remote-first and based in Leeds, UK, working across UK and European time zones. Most engagements happen over video calls, shared docs and pull requests. I travel to clients in person for kick-offs and workshops when it helps.

What technology stacks do you specialise in?

Modern web stacks — Next.js, React, TypeScript, Node.js, and headless content systems. I have deep experience with design systems (including the NHS and GOV.UK patterns), accessibility tooling and performance engineering. For audits I’m stack-agnostic.

How do engagements typically start?

A short free call to understand the problem, a written proposal with scope, price and timeline, and a signed agreement before any work begins. Audits are fixed-price; retainers and fractional CTO work are billed monthly.

Software Development

Cohort Manager for cancer screening

Helping breast-screening staff identify, correct and verify the demographic details of eligible participants, so the right people are invited at the right time.

Client: NHS England
Role: Lead UI Developer
Year: 2024
Duration: 9 months

In short

An internal tool for NHS screening staff — the people who decide who gets invited to screening, and when.
Accuracy matters: an incorrect record can mean someone misses a screening that would have found a cancer early.
Built on the NHS Design System with accessibility, auditability and trust as first-class requirements.

The brief

National cancer screening programmes live or die by the quality of the demographic data underneath them. If the cohort is wrong, the wrong people get invited — and the right people don't. Breast-screening staff had been working around inconsistent records for years, using tools that weren't fit for the task.

The brief was to build the internal service those staff actually need: clear, fast, accurate, accessible, and auditable enough that each change could be traced back to a real person and a real reason.

Approach

User research with screening staff — observing the real tasks, not just the documented ones.

Designing flows around the decisions staff make, not the data model underneath.

Using the NHS Design System so the service felt familiar to anyone who'd used other NHS internal tools.

Accessibility testing alongside sighted and screen-reader users early, not as a final-phase gate.

What I delivered

Cohort verification and correction journeys
Audit trail for every demographic change
Role-based access controls mapped to real screening staff roles
Component-level and end-to-end tests
Accessibility audit and remediation

Outcomes

A faster, less error-prone day-to-day for screening staff
Fewer invitations going to the wrong addresses; fewer missed invitations overall
An auditable trail that satisfies clinical-safety and information-governance review

Software DevelopmentKainos (for NHS England), 2026

NHS Online service

Helping build NHS Online — a new national digital hospital launching in England by 2027, connecting patients to specialists via the NHS App and easing elective waiting times.

Read case study

Software DevelopmentNHS England, 2025

Manage Your Screening (MAYS)

Lead UI Developer on the Manage Your Screening team — making NHS cancer screening easier to understand, easier to access, and easier to manage.