Overview
CCTS is an independent organization that works with telecommunications service providers and is dedicated to resolving customer complaints in a fair manner.
Visit WebsiteThe
challenge
The CCTS website was originally designed to facilitate communications between Canadian telecom and television providers and the general public over any disputes. Originally designed with only a focus on legal requirements, the original CCTS website was difficult to use.
A detailed analysis of the website, revealed the following problems:
- The purpose of the organization was not clear to visitors
- The service provider complaint form had a sub-par user experience
- The navigation elements were difficult and confusing to use
- The mobile version of the website was tough to read
- The website did not conform to WCAG 2.0 Level AA
- The search function returned inappropriate search results
The
process
From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the design of the CCTS website was somewhat challenging. On one hand, we had to work with the colour palette from their branding guidelines: a sky blue and black. However, we also needed to build a website that was compliant with Level AA of the WCAG (as opposed to Level A, which we normally conform our websites to).
Unfortunately, the corporate colours didn’t presented limitations it came to creating a design within the more stringent contrast requirements of WCAG 2.0 Level AA. Consulting with the client, we explored the possibility of adding adding a secondary colour palette to their branding guideline.
So we took on the task of finding additional colours that complimented their existing brand colours, without overshadowing them. We ended up selecting two additional colours: a navy blue and an orange-red.
With this secondary palette approved by the client, we were afforded more flexibility with the design options.
1. Design brief
We documented the client's design preferences and requirements, making sure everything was in line with their project goals.
2. Wireframe
Prior to any high fidelity mockups being created, we outlined the major elements that the page would be made up with.
3. Initial concept
The initial design highlighted the main purposes of CCTS and ensured that their complaint process was highly visible.
4. Final design
In the final design, the overall layout of the initial concept was maintained. Only minor stylistic revisions were required.
The
solution
Along with the Home page, a complete set of flexible sub-page templates were designed. This included:
- Standard content pages
- Section overview pages
- News listings with categories and individual article pages
- Careers opportunities listings page
- Reports document repository
- Search results
Multilingual support
In order to provide a multilingual website, the designs were converted into a custom WordPress theme that took advantage of the popular WPML plugin. This allowed both an English and a French version of each web page to exist within the same content management system. While the website allows visitors to select their preferred language, the system is intelligent and will display the website in the language chosen in the user’s browser settings.
Secure content area
One more involved change request made during the course of the project involved us creating a members-only, password protected page. The page provided telecommunications service providers with private news and documents. Utilizing a single sign-on approach, it also allowed them to directly interface with their custom third-party complaints resolution system.
