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GRF Website Receives Raves on Relaunch
The public launch of www.glaucoma.org culminated a redesign effort begun in January, 2005. As part of GRF’s Catalyst For a Cure public campaign launch at The City Club on September 8 in San Francisco, the website had already received an enthusiastic reception from early users.
Among these were site sponsor representatives from Union Bank of California and the Delta Gamma Foundation.
On hand to provide expertise and assistance with the new site were Erika Hall and Mike Monteiro from Mule Design and GRF’s Communications Director Andrew Jackson.
Event guests were invited to test the many new accessibility features including moving from multiple columns to a single column, increasing type from big to biggest, and changing contrast from light-on-dark to dark-on-light.
Pre-event user reviews of the site range from the poignant to the helpful.
From N. Colleen Cervilla:
“Thanks for your website - My mom has glaucoma, has had for years, and drops kept under control. Now pressure up and Doctor changed drops - new drops causing different side effects. Long way around to say - thanks - I got on your site to find out/remember more about glaucoma, anything we could do to lower pressure with general lifestyle changes. Love the info. Also love your site viewing options. Mom at 75+ yrs with glaucoma, cataract surgery, etc. has a heck of a time seeing some things on the computer - wish all sites could adopt your options so she could get the news and other information from other sites in easier to view format. So, again, thanks for your work.”
From Kathy Lee Fier:
“The site is FAB! Being one of those 50+ people I love the option for BIG type”
And finally from Bronwyn Hogan, Media Relations Manager for the American Academy of Ophthalmology:
“Oh, and the Web site is sooo awesome.”
The new GRF website was designed from the ground up as an “accessible site” using various web and government standards. The idea was to make visiting the GRF site a welcoming experience for all visitors, especially those with vision impairment.
Special effort was taken so a user with vision problems would not have to search for the tools to make the site more easily read. The tool bar is the first thing a site visitor sees. These tools also work throughout the site, not just on special pages, again an inclusive approach rather than treating the visually impaired as a separate class of visitors.
GRF’s investment in website redesign has had some immediate impact in how the Foundation performs. Visits to the site have increased exponentially. Requests for information are more easily made, and have increased threefold to 30 per day. The donation process has been simplified for the site visitor (in addition to saving postage, an envelope, and the walk to the mailbox).
Since launching the new site, online donations have more than doubled. And since the redesigned site automates secure online credit card processing, Foundation staff efficiency is increased by minimizing administration time to process donations.
We believe the new GRF site will become a national model for an “accessible site.” And as Mike Monteiro of Mule Design has said: “Ultimately, the goal isn’t to create one accessible site, but to make every site accessible.”
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Article by E. Carmen Torres, GRF Development Associate