As we prepared for the upgrade to Drupal 9 due to the sunset of Drupal 7, I recognized the need for a significant overhaul. Our website encompassed five diverse divisions: arts, film, humanities, history, and history preservation, presenting a substantial challenge that required seamless coordination between the vendor Webspec, OCIO, and our department.
In my role as the Graphic Design and Website Manager, I initiated open discussions with representatives from each division and their website content contributors. By delving into the pain points of each division, I gained valuable insights. I then crafted a comprehensive questionnaire with open-ended questions to gather further input. Despite working within a tight budget, I focused on addressing common pain points and prioritizing ADA compliance.
The results of the questionnaire affirmed what I had suspected: our navigation/menu system was not meeting the needs of our users. With the help of Webspec, we devised a solution in the form of Mega Menus. This innovation allowed our divisions, particularly the history division, to showcase their content more effectively without burdening users with numerous sub-menus.
The frustration of multiple clicks to find information became a thing of the past. I’m excited about the positive impact these changes will have on our website’s usability and accessibility. The collaborative effort and thoughtful solutions are poised to elevate the user experience for both external visitors and internal users.
Jacqueline Hudson 