RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN DURHAM
County Durham Sport
A responsive website design & build, including interactive maps, automated form submission and multi-media downloads for a government funded charity based in County Durham.
The Design Brief
County Durham Sport is part of a network of 43 Active Partnerships across England. Funded by Sport England and supported by the Active Partnership Network, their role is to challenge inequalities and change lives through sport and physical activity.
We were asked to design and build a responsive website. With over 300 pages of content, the site needed to be fast-loading, easy to navigate, optimised for search-engines and simple to update in-house. In addition, the website also incorporated a high-level of interactive elements including bespoke built “interactive maps”and downloads. .
Our Solution: Responsive Web Design
County Durham Sport already had a website but the outdated coding, chaotic navigation system and empty pages made it almost impossible for site-visitors to find relevant information.
The first task was to create an organised structure that grouped relevant information together. This was achieved by using the charity’s key initiatives as titled sections of the website menu which linked to the main pages in the website. Sub-pages were added to each of the sections to further break the key content into accessible information. Colour-coded navigational “info” blocks at the bottom of each page provide a clear path to information and act as signposts to guide site-visitors through the website.
By redefining the page content, streamlining the navigation system and creating anchor links between relevant sections of the website, we were able to drastically reduce the number of pages across the site and provide a clear path to information for website visitors.
Working closely with the County Durham Sport team the entire content of the website was rewritten. Out-of-date information was removed, and all new content was optimised for search engines as part of the build. This included search-engine optimised text content, web optimisation and the reformatting of all of the photographs and galleries used throughout the website.
One of the most important requests from County Durham Sport concerned the incorporation of interactive elements throughout the website. These took the form of third-party i-frame information blocks, downloadable videos and worksheets, online questionnaires, contact forms and a series of interactive “hot-spot” maps which displayed information about local sports associations and initiatives when a spot on a map was hovered over.
As County Durham Sport needed to be able to add and update content on a regular basis, the website used a modular drag-and-drop front-end page builder as part of the build. Template pages were also created as a way of providing ready-made page layouts for future use. A series of highly detailed bespoke “How To’s” were created for the CDS team and to ensure that everyone was comfortable using the website we also delivered a WordPress workshop at their premises in Durham.
The Result
A fast-loading, responsive, attractive website which is easy to use for both website visitors and the County Durham Sport team.
Search Engine Optimisation and the addition of Google Analytics have shown an consistent increase in the number of website visitors since the website was built. A redesigned menu with dropdowns and on-page links has simplified navigation across the website, making it easier for visitors to find the information they’re looking for.
UPDATE May 2022 – Addition of the “Active Friends” section of the website.
UPDATE Sept 2022 – Creation of an interactive sign-up form for the Active 30 Schools pledge. This was a complex build as the form needed to gather complex information while remaining user-friendly. The facility for automatic downloads was also required. We accomplished this by using multiple choice options, conditional auto-fills and a series of either/or choices which minimised the amount of data input required by the user. Copies of the form submission data was also automatically forwarded to the relevant departments at County Durham Sport.
UPDATE January 2023 – We are delighted to continue working with the CDS team, providing our website maintenance/update package and changes to the website where required.
The Client Said…
Wide-Eyed Design helped us with the development and roll out of our new website two years ago. They have always been extremely helpful in accommodating and resolving any issues and queries promptly. Wide-Eyed Design provided us with clear instructions and a bespoke training on how to use the website. Great customer service!
Louise Clare. County Durham Sport
Responsive Web Design Durham
For the last 17 years Wide-Eyed Design have been designing and building beautiful, bespoke, websites, e-commerce websites & online solutions for businesses and not-for-profits in Durham, the northeast of England, Edinburgh and Southern Scotland.
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