EST Connexions
Overview
Essex Southend & Thurrock Connexions have a lot of information that they need to make available to people aged 13 to 19 in England. Much of this information is of a sensitive nature and so the delivery is of equal importance to the quality. The ESTConnexions site was designed specifically with a dual purpose, to engage and involve teens on the site, and educate through games, polls, quizes and other interactive features, but also to allow access to important information quickly and easily. The site also holds a AAA accessibility rating.
Website
Background
Connexions is the government's support service for all young people aged 13 to 19 in England. The service aims to provide integrated advice, guidance and access to personal development opportunities for this group and to help them make a smooth transition to adulthood and working life. The success of Connexions depends on the involvement of young people - listening to and taking account of their views in the design and delivery of Connexions is essential.
Objectives
- Allow content to be added to the website easily by multiple parties via a web browser interface
- Select a platform that can support multiple channels for content (HTML, XML, Flash applications)
- Deliver lifestyle information to youths and engage their imaginations to hold them on the site and deliver more information
- Provide a fresh look and feel with simple and intuitive navigation
- Comply with the W3C AAA accessibility rating for disabled users
- Provide excellent registration capability and segmented newsletter functionality
Solution
The website has two distinct methods for accessing the same content. WebDeck was used to be the base platform, hold all the content, handle user authentication, versioning and publishing. Built on top of WebDeck are two interfaces, one in Macromedia Flash, and one in AAA accessible HTML pages. The HTML site was designed to give instant access to information for users who have come to the site specifically to solve a problem such as relationships issues, or abuse of some kind. The simple menu navigation allows users to see all the hierarchy of information without having to click through pages of information. The search engine also appears on every page, and all content within WebDeck including Adobe PDF and Microsoft office documents are indexed and are searchable.
Some of the accessibility features of the Connexions site include four different colour schemes with varying contrasts, three different text sizes, AAA accessible page designs and forms, and text only pages for aural browsers.
The Flash based street scene is a totally interactive world where teens can find all the common areas they hang out on a daily basis. The connexions centre is the entry building, and then users are free to roam around the nightclub, skate park, TV studio, cash point, and other locations. Each location has characters to talk to who can point you in the direction of useful information on the HTML site, or let you play their games or call you on their mobile phones. The site features forums, polls, quizzes, connexions info pods, a collection of games, news banners and more, all powered by data served in XML from WebDeck.
"Solid State's innovative approach to design, together with their strong technical expertise and their ability to understand the nature of business very quickly has captured the very essence of image we wanted to portray to young people."
Wendy Cooper, EST Connexions
About Solid State Group
Solid State Group is a content management, web applications and services consultancy which was founded out of a desire to provide solutions which were more time and cost-efficient.
Leveraging the managing partners experience in the IT consulting, financial and marketing sectors, Solid State Group has built a strong reputation for robust products that can be rapidly and effectively implemented across a broad range of industry sectors.
For more information please visit www.solidstategroup.com or call 0845 838 2163