Another successful public sector project delivery for a major UK healthboard.
NHS Highland’s existing website contained outdated information, didn’t work on mobile phones and was full of vulnerabilities that could bring it down at any time.
Following best practice NHS design processes and engaging with end users throughout, we delivered an engaging, interactive and fully accessible website that meets the specific needs and requirements of all patients, staff and stakeholders.
Putting the user front and centre whilst making the content accessible for all
NHS Highland carried out an in-depth discovery phase prior to project commencement. This research, alongside our previous successful project delivery experience for other public health organisations, meant that we were able to focus on a project delivery that satisfied the needs and requirements of all relevant users and stakeholders throughout the project.
In September 2020, it became a legal requirement that all public sector websites were to be WCAG 2.1 AA compliant. Fortunately we were already experts.
The NHS Highland website was designed to not only meet but exceed these requirements, both in terms of design and technical aspects, while also providing additional support for creating clear web content.
The website is powered by the Umbraco CMS, giving NHS Highland complete control over every aspect of the website’s content.
Our Umbraco health board-specific customisations make it even easier for content editors to create engaging and interactive pages, facilitating the inclusion of video, document libraries, and third-party integrations with other NHS services.
We utilised the NHS Digital Design Manual to develop NHS Highland's new website.
The manual covers essential topics such as accessibility, usability, and user-centred design, ensuring the website meets high-quality standards. We used the manual throughout the design and development process to create a website that specifically meets the needs of NHS Highland, whilst adhering to best practices.
Simply put, using the NHS Digital Design Manual ensured a high-quality and functional website.
Geographically speaking, NHS Highland is the largest Health Board in the UK. With a population of just 320,000, it also must serve users in the remotest of locations.
With real technical challenges around strength of internet connection in many communities, the brief stated that regardless of strength of signal, all pages should load efficiently and as quickly as the connection allows.
The website was designed to perform well even on slower internet connections, ensuring that all users can easily access its features. This involved keeping the size of pages to a minimum. Umbraco's media library tools automatically compress images and the utilisation of the NHS Digital Design Manual helped further minimise page loading times throughout the region.
The project was a resounding success for NHS Highland, providing numerous benefits for the organisation and its patients. These include quick and easy access to important information and resources, resulting in improved patient care and staff efficiency, and increased public engagement with NHS Highland, fostering a sense of community involvement and trust.
These successes demonstrate the importance of user engagement in website design and development, as well as the effectiveness of tailored solutions that meet specific client needs. Overall, the new website has been an asset for NHS Highland and a testament to the benefits of investing in quality web design.
We do a lot of great work within the public sector. Here is a selection of recent ones that we feel illustrate what we do.
A much-needed new responsive website with clean design and accessibility at its heart.
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