Discovery
Every web project we work on starts off with a project kickoff meeting. This is a hands-on series of working meetings addressing administrative and strategic topics. Our team conducts a thorough assessment of goals, audiences, technologies, and requirements.
The goal of user experience research and testing is to have a complete understanding of a website audience and their common purpose and motivation for visiting that website. Site users need to be able to find information easily, logically, and intuitively. The layout and organization of the site should make sense to users.
Information Architecture (IA)
IA is the science and art of defining a structure, organization, navigation, labeling, and indexing of a website. The goal of developing IA is to create a comprehensive site taxonomy that will apply to most aspects of a user’s experience. We strive to understand the current environment and any challenges of the website in order to develop strategies that will increase effectiveness.
We leverage our professional software tools to audit a current website and create an inventory report that list of all the content on that site, which typically includes text, images, documents, databases, and applications. Often audits are used to track which pages should be removed, whether or not content needs to be revised or created due to gaps, and where content should be mapped to if it's being moved or requires redirects.
User-Centric Visual Web Design
Our web designs are responsive and provide optimal viewing and interaction experience for site visitors. We first create structural wireframes based on the user experience research and information architecture design recommendations. Then we design page templates based on the approved wireframe concepts. All designs reflect a client's brand identity.
Our team is knowledgeable and experienced in creating ADA compliant websites. We adhere to the standards set by W3C for XHTML, HTML5, CSS, and Section 508. Accessibility compliance begins at the web design phase. Our web designers collaborate with our accessibility specialists to strategize color combinations, features, and functions.
Web Development
We use Bootstrap, Drupal Zen, Omega or similar frameworks for the front-end web development as they are the best tools for developing ADA compliant and responsive mobile-first websites. We leverage the built-in features and functionality of CMS platforms and only consider custom code when there is no out of the box or third-party alternative available. We implement and adapt the design, navigation, page layout, and other graphical design elements into the CMS platform.
Content Migration
Although content migration is a manual process, we provide an easy-to-use content type editing form that provides the ability to enter content into a standard format directly in the CMS. We work with internal migration teams to teach best practices and be a resource for questions throughout the migration process.
We incorporate standard SEO on-page coding to ensure web pages have the appropriate page titles, meta descriptions, URL addresses, etc. Our on-page optimization process involves looking at a list of 10+ on-page factors and making sure each page is set up appropriately.
Testing & QA
Before a new website goes live, our web team conducts extensive testing and quality control to verify a website is fully operational without issues or broken links. We test to confirm the new site will be compatible and operate effectively with various browsers and platforms. This intensive process confirms a new site meets best-practice standards and passes WCAG 2.0/Section 508 Level AA compliance requirements.
Site Launch
Once a new website is ready to go live, our team directs the site to the appropriate hosting environment. Our launch process includes transferring code and content, along with testing to ensure the site transferred correctly, including a final check for broken links. We connect the site to Google Analytics and send out requests to the major search engines to crawl the new site.
Staff Training
We’ll provide on-site training for staff so they can become familiar with how to access the backend administrative dashboard and locate the various pages and modules.
Support Services
We take care of all the technical maintenance required to keep your new website functioning optimally, including security and plugin updates as they become available.
Hosting Services
We work with the most popular and secure cloud-based hosting companies, such as Acquia, Pantheon, Bluehost, MediaTemple, and RackSpace.
