High-level snapshot of the current cornell.com website as of March 2026.
2014
Last robots.txt Update
Key Context: As of November 2024, the company rebranded from "Cornell Communications" to "Cornell Technologies" with a new logo and tagline ("People-Centered Technologies"). The current website still references "Cornell Communications" throughout. This migration is the opportunity to complete the rebrand across all digital properties.
Platform: The current site is entirely custom-coded on a proprietary framework called "Genesis" (version dated 2014) with no CMS. It includes a built-in shopping cart and multi-step product configurator. Migration to WordPress + Shopify will require careful content extraction since there is no standardized export.
Issues related to the company rebrand and brand consistency across the site.
Inconsistent company name — Site still says "Cornell Communications" in most places despite the Nov 2024 rebrand to "Cornell Technologies." Title tag, footer, navigation, and most pages still reference the old name.
Title tag is keyword-stuffed — Homepage title is 130+ characters: Emergency Call Systems | Wireless Call System | Door Monitoring System | ... — far too long and not brand-aligned.
Old logo may still be in use — Confirm whether the new Cornell Technologies logo has been deployed across the site or if assets need updating.
Copyright footer uses old name — Currently reads "© 1973 - 2026 Cornell Communications" — needs to reflect new company name.
URL structure, navigation labels, sitemap accuracy, and overall site organization.
URL & Naming Issues
Product name vs. URL mismatch — Product is called "IndePendant" (with an 'a') but the URL is /indePendentNurseCall (with an 'e'). Hurts SEO and creates confusion.
Nav label doesn't match page — Item labeled "The best call system for outpatient clinics" links to /MedicalAlertSystems/AssistedLiving, which is an assisted living page, not outpatient clinics.
Inconsistent URL patterns — Mix of PascalCase (/MobileNurseCall), camelCase (/indePendentNurseCall), and lowercase (/areaofrefugerequirements). No convention.
Sitemap & Indexing Gaps
10+ live pages missing from sitemap — Including /RescueAssistance/SentinelAOR, /LightStatusSystem, /MedicalAlertNews, /PrivacyPolicy, /RMAForm, all /C/ shop categories, and more. Search engines may not index these.
Hospice page URL conflict — Sitemap has /MedicalAlertSystems/HospiceCenters but navigation links to /MedicalAlertSystems/Hospice. Both appear to work, creating duplicate content.
Navigation UX
Deeply nested menus — 6 top-level items with 3-4 levels of nesting. Likely very difficult to use on mobile devices.
Duplicate paths to same content — Same pages accessible through multiple nav paths (by system, by community type, by product type). May confuse rather than help users.
"Medical Alert" terminology is misleading — URLs and page names use "MedicalAlertSystems" throughout. In the consumer market, this refers to personal emergency response systems (Life Alert, etc.) — not commercial nurse call. Could attract wrong audience.
Footer duplicates entire nav structure — The footer repeats the full navigation menu, adding crawl complexity without clear user benefit.
Stale, missing, or outdated content that needs attention before or during migration.
Outdated or Empty Pages
Events page is completely empty — /UpcomingEvents contains zero actual events. Only boilerplate text about attending trade shows. Remove or commit to maintaining?
News articles mostly undated — Only 3 of 12 articles have publication dates. Most recent is Nov 2024. Several appear years old with no date, making the news section feel stale.
Testimonials lack dates — None of the 12+ testimonials include dates. Unknown how current they are. Some have incomplete attribution (missing names/titles).
Door Monitor system discontinued Dec 2025 — The PDF page notes this product line is discontinued. Should these 5 pages migrate, be archived, or redirect to a replacement product?
Content Needing Client Input
Leadership page accuracy — 6 team members shown (Jessica Pearson, Kyle Kecker, Deanna Zieba, Alper Dortbudak, Brenda Myszka, Phyllis Groff). Need to verify all are still current, especially given the rebrand and leadership changes.
Partner logos & affiliations — ACHCA, AHCA, LeadingAge, etc. displayed on contact page. Confirm all partnerships are current and logos are approved for use.
Community type pages are nearly identical — Assisted Living, Memory Care, Skilled Care, and Hospice pages all show the same three products with very similar copy. Minimal differentiation for the audience. Consider consolidation or making each truly distinct.
Area of Refuge state requirements table — Covers all 50 states with IBC year adopted. Most recent entries are 2021; some reference 2012 codes. Verify this data is still accurate before migrating.
Performance, SEO, accessibility, and legal/privacy concerns found during the audit.
Performance & Architecture
No CMS — entirely custom-coded — Built on a proprietary "Genesis" framework (version from 2014). No standardized content structure to export from, requiring manual content extraction.
Heavy JavaScript dependency — Every page shows "Please enable JavaScript for full site functionality." Core content and forms don't work without JS enabled.
Excessive tracking code — Three separate Google Analytics tracking IDs (GA-Z7D5STGKCP, UA-114549437-1, UA-90571653-1) plus obfuscated marketing automation scripts. Significant page load impact.
Robots.txt from 2014 — File version dated 11/24/2014. References obsolete paths and has not been updated in over a decade.
SEO Issues
Title tags are keyword-stuffed — Homepage title is 130+ characters of keyword spam rather than a clean, searchable brand statement.
Duplicate/near-duplicate content — Community type pages (Assisted Living, Memory Care, Skilled Care, Hospice) share nearly identical content, which dilutes SEO value across all four pages.
"Medical Alert" keyword mismatch — URLs and titles use "Medical Alert" terminology, which in search refers to personal emergency devices (Life Alert). Could be attracting irrelevant traffic instead of B2B healthcare facility buyers.
10+ pages missing from XML sitemap — Including product pages, news, policy pages, and the Sentinel AOR product page. Search engines may not be indexing these properly.
Accessibility
JavaScript-dependent forms — Contact form and RMA form explicitly require JavaScript, creating barriers for assistive technology users.
Missing/generic alt text — Multiple images use generic alt text like "Image of Office Space" rather than meaningful descriptions of what's shown.
Limited ARIA labels — Interactive elements lack proper accessibility markup. No visible skip-navigation links for screen reader users.
Privacy & Legal
Privacy policy last updated August 2021 — Nearly 5 years old. References obsolete technology (Adobe Flash cookies). Has CCPA section but no GDPR mention. Needs a full review/rewrite.
Issues with the current online store that impact the Shopify migration at store.cornell.com.
Product images may be missing — Audit flagged potential broken or placeholder product thumbnails on the shop listing pages. Needs verification.
15% online discount strategy — Prominently displayed across the store. Need to confirm if this pricing carries over to Shopify or changes.
Dealer/promo code structure unclear — Quote mentions dealer pricing. Need to clarify the current discount and pricing tiers for Shopify configuration.
User accounts not in scope — Site has Register/Sign In functionality. Quote explicitly excludes user account migration. Need to discuss what happens to existing accounts and any customer data.
Custom cart system replacement — Current cart at /find/ShoppingCart/Cart is custom-built. Need to understand current order volume, payment processor, shipping rules, and inventory integrations.
Product count discrepancy — Quote estimates ~200 products. Store shows ~140 across 5 pages. Need to reconcile — are some products hidden, in draft, or discontinued?
Complete inventory of pages found on the current site, organized by section. Quoted scope is ~65 pages.
Scope Alert: The quote estimates ~65 content pages. Our audit found approximately 75–80+ actual content pages (not counting individual product pages). Some pages may be candidates for consolidation or removal rather than 1:1 migration. This should be discussed during kickoff.
| Section | Pages | Notes |
|---|
| Homepage | 1 | |
| About / Partners | 2 | |
| Configure (Quote Tool) | 5 | Multi-step form — custom built |
| Contact | 1 | |
| Door Monitor | 5 | Discontinuing Dec 2025 |
| Emergency Call System | 5 | |
| Community Types | 6 | Near-duplicate content across pages |
| Testimonials | 15 | Main page + individual stories |
| Reporting & Paging | 3 | |
| Mobile Nurse Call | 2 | |
| Rescue Assistance / AOR | 4 | |
| Visual Nurse Call | 5 | |
| Wireless Nurse Call | 1 | |
| Terms / Events | 2 | Events page is empty |
| IN SITEMAP TOTAL: 62 pages |
| Not in Sitemap (But Live) | Status |
|---|
/RescueAssistance/SentinelAOR | Active product page |
/areaofrefugerequirements | 50-state requirements table |
/LightStatusSystem | Product page |
/MedicalAlertNews + articles | News hub + 12 articles |
/PrivacyPolicy | Outdated (Aug 2021) |
/RMAForm | Return form |
/EmergencyCallSystem/PDFs | 110+ documents |
Various /C/ shop categories | E-commerce category pages |
/find/Member/MemberSignup | Account registration |
/Secure/login | Account login |
Recommended topics to cover during the project kickoff call. Each may require a decision from Cornell Technologies.
1
Rebrand completion — How thoroughly should "Cornell Technologies" replace "Cornell Communications"? Will new About page copy be needed? (Would be a scope change if so.)
2
Door Monitor discontinuation — These 5 pages cover a product discontinued Dec 2025. Migrate as-is, archive with a notice, or redirect to a replacement?
3
Events page — Currently empty. Remove entirely, or will the team commit to maintaining events content going forward?
4
Page consolidation — The ~6 community type pages are nearly identical. Consolidate into fewer, more differentiated pages? Or keep all as separate landing pages?
5
URL taxonomy — Current "Medical Alert" terminology throughout URLs is misleading for a B2B audience. Propose a cleaner IA using "nurse-call," "area-of-refuge," etc.
6
Product catalog cleanup — Client needs to provide a validated product list before Shopify migration. Confirm ~200 count and identify discontinued items.
7
User accounts — What's the volume of existing accounts? Is migration needed? (Not in current scope — would require separate quote.)
8
Privacy policy — Needs a full rewrite (last updated 2021, references Flash cookies). In scope, or a separate legal effort?
9
PDF/spec sheet management — 110+ documents. Strategy for WordPress: media library, custom post type, gated downloads, or organized resource center?
10
Page count variance — True count is 75–80+, not ~65 as quoted. Discuss which pages to keep, consolidate, or drop to stay within scope.
11
Analytics cleanup — Three GA tracking IDs plus marketing automation scripts. What's the go-forward analytics strategy for the new site?
12
Configure/Quote tool — The multi-step system configurator at /Configure is custom-built. Will this be rebuilt in WordPress (e.g., via a plugin/form) or handled differently?
Items we need from Cornell Technologies before development can begin. Check off items as they're provided.
Brand guidelines & logo files — New Cornell Technologies brand guidelines, logo files (SVG/PNG), color palette, and approved fonts.
Validated product catalog — Complete list of products for Shopify: SKUs, descriptions, images, pricing, and category assignments.
Leadership/team page info — Confirmed list of team members, titles, bios, and headshot photos for the About page.
Dealer pricing & discount structure — Current pricing tiers, discount codes, and dealer-specific rules for Shopify configuration.
Shipping & tax rules — Shipping rates, zones, free shipping thresholds, and tax nexus configuration details.
Hosting/server access — Access to the current web server for content harvesting (FTP, SSH, or admin panel credentials).
Google Analytics access — Viewer access to current analytics to understand traffic patterns, top pages, and user behavior before redesign.
Current integrations list — Payment processors, email marketing tools, CRM, or any third-party services currently connected to the site.
User account migration decision — Determine whether existing customer accounts need to be migrated (would require separate quote and discovery).
Updated privacy policy & terms — Provide updated legal documents, or authorize Dooley & Associates to draft new versions based on the new platform.