The parallels between football and website design are few and far between. But Kooba has just won the treble for the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission’s website, and we’d argue it’s the only one worth mentioning since 1999. Manchester City fans may disagree.
New Website Launch at the IDI Awards, Best in Universal Design at the Spider Awards and now Gold for Best Website at the Digital Media Awards. Three trophies for one digital experience.
The game plan
Each award recognised something different, but design, accessibility and usability were working together from the get-go.
IHREC’s work centres on protecting human rights and promoting equality in Ireland. Its website needed to reflect that responsibility, helping people find and understand information that could have a significant bearing on their lives.
A clean, modern design, clear content hierarchy and carefully considered navigation gave the platform its structure. A modular visual system paired with a flexible CMS gave IHREC’s team the freedom to create and adapt content over time while maintaining consistency.
Accessibility shaped those decisions from the beginning. We considered how people with different abilities and circumstances would experience the site. That reflects the ethos behind our specialist accessibility consultancy, AccessPoint: looking beyond a compliance checklist to understand what people actually need to use a digital service.
The dream team
Haaland couldn’t do what we do, and vice versa. Thankfully, everyone involved picked the right profession.
Our UX, UI, frontend and backend teams sweated the details together, with the full support and partnership of IHREC throughout. Understanding the organisation’s role was essential. Understanding the people using its website was just as important.
Our UX work helped us consider the circumstances in which someone might be looking for information about their rights. Some visitors may be in vulnerable situations and need to leave the website at short notice. The Quick Exit button gives them a straightforward way to do that. It’s a small interaction with a meaningful purpose.
That same attention carried through the wider experience. Content hierarchy, navigation and categorisation were carefully considered to help people reach relevant information without unnecessary searching. Design and development worked closely together to carry those decisions through to the finished platform.
Every Kooba player had a role, and the result depended on how well they worked together.
The final score
Three more trophies on the shelf give us plenty to celebrate. So does a clear, carefully structured website that helps more people access information about their rights.
IHREC sets a benchmark for the work we want to keep delivering: thoughtful design, inclusivity and technical execution, with a shared understanding of the people the website needs to serve.
A team performance worthy of a treble. No scandal, no misleading funding.
(Image Credit: Originally posted to Flickr by seanog_72 at https://www.flickr.com/photos/14315758@N08/2949890823)
