National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) is a grant-funded resource program established by Administration on Aging (AoA) in 1988. NCEA and AoA are a part of Administration for Community Living (ACL) within the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
In 2015–16, the NCEA grant allowed for a static website redesign. They gave our team at ACL their ideas, and we took them into account and added the intent to make the new site responsive and accessible, and align it with other ACL websites, but also to keep all of the desired features (quick exit, emphasis on help, etc.). Also, the grantee wanted to reorganize the site content to have their goals in one place, a “What We Do” section, that would be featured and summarized on the home page. After processing their input and our ideas, we developed the wireframes.
They provided us with their new logo (shown below). As an aside, I was not thrilled with the gradient color treatment. We tried to convince the grantees that a solid color logo would be more effective in the web design, but they disagreed and persisted, so gradient logo it was. From there I set the main colors and designed icons to go with their four “What We Do” areas (Education, Practice, Justice and Research) before presenting them with design comps, which they approved with minor revisions. The approved design is reflected in the new site interface.
The NCEA grantees shared a photo gallery and we pulled photos from it, selecting six photos that reflected NCEA’s mission and would work for the home page. Instead of having a slideshow or anything moving or complicated on the home page, we decided to put in a simple random-load script, so upon reloading or coming back to the home page, site visitors would see one of six impactful photos showing seniors, caretakers, families and friends.
The end result is a simplified, organized and clear way to communicate NCEA’s goals and resources. Since the budget did not allow for a CMS solution, we added the “What’s Happening” section on the home page. It contains Facebook and Twitter feeds that the grantees control, to allow them to keep the home page content fresh, and their audience engaged, with the latest events and articles.
Update: it seems the NCEA website has been re-designed since I posted this case study, most likely to put it into a CMS. As of 2016, the NCEA site was static, responsive, and Section 508-compliant and accessible. It was maintained by the ACL IT team through a web request system.
