Illinois Humanities Council »
The Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) is a non-profit organization that funds and produces educational opportunities that support humanities scholar programs. These programs are intended to reach many people of different backgrounds. Through their new web site at www.prairie.org, IHC effectively communicates their programs and events in a timely manner.
Problem
The prior IHC website was difficult for end-users to navigate and find program information. The website was static despite the need for frequent content updates. The website also required a fresh look and feel to match IHC’s current marketing efforts.
Solutions
- Usability Analysis : Duo interviewed IHC’s target market to understand how the website was being used. These interviews produced insights on how to create a site which was not only user-friendly, but could be accessed frequently by their target audience. Based on this research Duo suggested a new site map and page flow for implementation.
- Information Architecture : Due to the number of programs and events that needed to be regularly updated, Duo provided a content management system that allows IHC to update their content as often as necessary.
- Optimizing Keywords : As a part of IHC’s effort to be more visible, Duo provided marketing analysis on the keywords used most often to search for information that IHC had on their site. From Duo’s report, IHC was able to implement the right keywords in their content to increase search engine relevancy.
- Enhanced Marketability : Duo created a contact form that asks end-users to provide information about themselves to receive personalized mailings of upcoming events.
- Section 508 Compliance : Duo designed the new site to ensure access for people with vision impairments who rely on assistive devices to access computer-based information, which translate what's on a computer screen into automated audible output.
Results
- Enhanced look and feel
- Improved usability for ease or use and Section 508 compliance
- Site content can be updated internally, so current content is always available to end users
- The site is ranked higher by search engines due to the keywords relevancy
- Site updates have lead to increased website activity from their user base
- IHC can do targeted marketing by a segmented contact form and e-newsletter integration
