Design and build of an accessible and user-centric website and social media strategy for the newly established Borough Council
Ards and North Down Borough Council is one of eleven new Council areas established as a result of the Local Government Reform Programme in Northern Ireland.
Eyekiller was awarded the contract to develop an intuitive, fully responsive website that would be the hub of the new organisation in the community and provide a strategy from which all future digital communications and social media activity will be delivered.
From the outset Eyekiller’s objective was to provide a user-centric solution inline with GOV.UK Design Principles for public sector websites. We also recognised the particular importance to catering to the needs of all users and ability levels including those with disabilities, ensuring that the new website adhered to W3C, WAI and WCAG 2.0 accessibility standards throughout.
User research and usability testing were conducted at key checkpoints throughout the project to help understand what could be done to improve the overall User Experience (UX). It was essential that the visitor to the website can find information and perform key tasks with ease. Intuitive navigation, predictive site search and clear visual signposts were implemented to guide the Council’s diverse audience groups, for example local residents and business owners, to their required destination.
The result is a clean, uncluttered and task-ordinated website without unnecessary design elements. Built using Responsive Website Design, the website can be fully accessed across all devices including Smart TV, tablets and mobiles. Behind the scenes the Council’s Comms Team can easily update the website content, create web forms and manage visitor feedback via a secure and scalable Content Management System (CMS).
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