Case study brief: Transforming the FE College’s digital presence
Trinity Specialist College is a Post 16 educational provider that is dedicated to supporting students aged between 16-25 with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, and individuals living with Autistic Spectrum Condition. Their mission is rooted in raising aspirations and enabling every learner to reach their full potential.
Trinity approached our team, requiring a first digital home for the College. This transformative project, which began as a single stand-alone landing page, has evolved into a modern, intuitive, and accessible website that reflects the heart of the college and its community.
Student-centred development made this case study stand out
With our team having vast experience in the education landscape, the dynamic new website has been crafted with the student voice being at its centre.
By combining our expert accessible web development skills with proactive User Acceptance Testing with the College, enable us to build an inclusive platform shaped around specific user needs. By focusing on the platform’s usability and working to web standards has enabled all online visitors to fluently access and navigate the platform, no matter what device or software they may use.
Web development activities delivered
- Accessible web design and development of an interim holding page and full website
- Project management and accessibility consultancy
- Accessibility tested to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA
- Upskilling content editor training
HeX expert accessible design and development process
With the College originally having only a single landing page, our experts set to work developing a structured sitemap of the planned content. Working in iterative phases, our designers transformed this plan into a series of wireframe designs. As an interim measure, we first developed a holding page with key information to refresh and modernise the existing static page, while our team worked on the full website build.
We began by producing simplistic line drawings of the website’s structure. Using strong taxonomy our experts plotted a clear user flow that would effectively guide users on a journey throughout the platform, swiftly driving them to desired content.
Building upon these designs we:
- Incorporated the College’s branding to style elements
- Created striking call to actions
- Implemented eye-catching imagery and visuals
Giving a clear vision of the website’s aesthetics, its navigation, and features.
This staged approach enabled our team to bring the designs to life for the College, enabling them to provide ongoing feedback and ensuring the final website would match their vision – all while supporting a fast-moving development process.
The website was built in the Content Management System (CMS) WordPress. This powerful system is our team’s preferred development platform due to its flexible and versatile features and plugins, which complemented Trinity’s overall project objectives. Through the use of Gutenberg blocks and the way that we manipulate the CMS, we transformed the agreed design work, adding in bespoke features and functionality, to develop a dynamic, intuitive, and user-friendly website.
Shaping an inclusively designed user-focused website
Being a specialist college that supports disabled and neurodiverse students, having an inclusively designed website was crucial.
Like every HeX-built website, Trinity’s platform was built with accessibility at its core. Not only was the website developed to work responsively across varying browsers and screen sizes, but also with assistive technologies. Our specialists have become experts over the past 10 years in digital accessibility best practices and web standards. Working alongside WCAG, we developed the College’s site to meet level 2.2 AA standards, ensuring they met with Public Sector Legislation.
Throughout each project stage, our web development team also utilised an array of devices and software to manually test the usability of the platform.
This included assistive technologies such as:
- Screen readers
- Screen magnifiers
- Speech input software
- Keyboard only
This approach meant that inclusivity and authenticity were embedded in the site from its foundation. This resulted in the platform being easy to access, navigate, and understand for its primary audience.
Integrating powerful Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for smarter campus visits
A key priority for the college was in making it easier for families and prospective students to visit the campus. To achieve this, we integrated tailored WordPress APIs that streamline the journey from booking a visit to arriving on site.
- Using the Simply Schedule Appointments plugin we set up an efficient booking system for campus tours. This functionality enabled our experts to schedule unique time slots, whilst also restricting multiple users from booking the same corresponding entry.
- We embedded interactive Google Maps APIs for two campuses, making it simple for visitors to plan their route, explore transport options, and find the campus with confidence.
Together, these intuitive and accessible interfaces create a seamless visitor experience.
Upskilling training to make website management a breeze
WordPress is renowned for its user-friendly interface. Its stripped back-end editor enables site administrators to swiftly make updates to content, allowing editors to view, add, and amend content in the same visual way as it appears on the web page itself. This makes the CMS an ideal system for users who do not have any previous coding knowledge.
To give Trinity’s site editors the confidence and skills needed for the upkeep of the website, our web development experts ran an online training session. This gave simple walkthroughs on ways to update the platform and how to do so in an accessible way, ensuring they remain compliant with web standards beyond project completion.
Trinity Specialist College’s digital transformation
HeX are proud to have supported Trinity Specialist College in transforming their digital presence.
The user-centered platform has been shaped around inclusive user needs, transforming how the College connects with students, families, and the wider community. In turn, leaving every visitor feeling empowered to engage and interact with its content and stay informed.
The site has also resulted in another major step forward, by enabling Trinity to secure official ac.uk status. This standing will help in bringing credibility to the college to help with funding and aid with greater search rankings – affirming their place in the UK’s higher education landscape.
Trinity Specialist College’s website mirrors their mission and values, helping in “raising aspirations” by empowering young people to gain equal access to curriculum pathways and develop their skills to succeed in being part of their community.
More case studies about accessible web development
Homefield College
Homefield College owns several community enterprises across the East Midlands. These assist students in gaining valuable experience, qualifications, and developing employability skills, whilst being within a real workplace environment. To help grow these educational enterprise initiatives, Homefield required a series of accessible microsites developing, which could easily be managed by non-technical staff, all within one centralised system.
Nottingham College
Working in education, Nottingham College understood the legal and ethical necessity for their site to be accessible for all. Requiring an accessibility audit to test their site’s compliance, the College approached our team of experts. HeX provided the College with a six-month one-to-one consultancy contract. This assisted their web developer in enabling accessible educational resources and course information.