School's in Session
Redesigning a school district website with accessibility and inclusivity in mind.
Role
UX Designer
Timeline
3 weeks
Team
Claudio Luis Vera | Project Lead
Adam Kuzma | Team Member
Todd Chambers | Team Member
Ana Aguilar–Hauke | Team Member
Design Tools
Figma | Adobe XD
about the project
Calhoun County School District (Georgia,USA) serves about 719 students k-12. It may seem like a small number but it is no insignificant amount. With a rural education grant to receive Chrome books to support their education plans that may or may not involve e-learning, remote learning or in-person lessons, Calhoun County is on its way to utilizing modern technology. With this grant on its way, I set out to update their school district website to match their users' needs.
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How might we redesign a school district website to reflect and inform users of changing public health policies and e-learning/remote resources?
Overview
Users & Audeince
Redesigning Calhoun County School District website for teachers, staff, board members, students and their families to access critical information when they need it.
Roles & Responsibilities
As sole UX designer for this proof of concept, I sought out subject matter experts in finding creative ways to gather input from youth, ways to test sites for accessibility and inclusivity, and how best to design responsibly by using responsive design.
Project Goal
I was inspired to work on this project to update the site to meet WCAG guidelines. After speaking with many accessibility and inclusivity in education subject matter experts, I found that this was a hot topic this past year. Due to the pandemic, a lot of students, teachers, and their families have found themselves entirely reliant on technology to support their education plans. To leave out a proportion of the population due to lack of accessibility testing seemed unnecessary and I wanted to contribute my skills to design a user experience that all may enjoy. How might we redesign Calhoun County School District site so that students, teachers, and their families can access critical information such as public health policies that cause school closures and delays, and e-learning/remote learning resources along with everything else that is relevant to a child's education.
Solution
Introducing the CCSD site redesign! The redesign features a new user flow and information architecture based off of user surveys and interviews of parents and students who had a lot to say about this past school year. We changed the navigation menu to include phrases such as "Families & Students" instead of "Parents" to be more sensitive to different types of families. We applied a more holistic approach to the navigation to anticipate user needs and their most asked questions. We included a hero carousel with calls to action for the most recent headlines in regards to public health policies, e-learning and future plans the school district has to serve their community. We added all of the most requested information right on the landing page for transparency, ease of flow, and urgency. It's been a stressful year for our educators, students, and their families. I wanted to reduce additional stress by designing a simpler site that is easier to navigate.
Discovery and Research
I was inspired by the work UXI designers everywhere have done for accessibility and inclusivity within education and technology. I was motivated to redesign a school county district website with the intention of meeting Web Content Accessibility Guideline requirements. I researched the different phases of accessibility testing: first with automated testing with a WCAG checklist, then with manual testing for keyboard accessibility, screen reader compatibility, focus indicator, voice over software/apps, and open source speech readers and finally usability testing with live humans. Or you could just hire a consulting firm to audit. We had just witnessed the fires in Oregon (2020) and accessibility advocates were reeling over how the color coded stages of emergency lacked any text which effectively left out folks who are color blind. This really got to me and I looked to my community to see where accessibility testing could be of benefit.
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Turns out 4 our of 5 school websites are non ADA compliant. Which means that a significant number of students, teachers, and their families may not have had access to critical information they needed to supplement their education during a pandemic. With stay at home orders, businesses required to shut down, and widespread panic due to Covid-19, a lot of students depend on e-learning, virtual classrooms, and access to basic internet and technology. With more people in general now reliant on web and mobile applications, the need for user experience in tech has never been more in demand.
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In the case of CCSD (Calhoun County School District) site, the target demographic are students, teachers, their families, staff, board members, and community members. Students range from ages 5-18 years (kindergarten - 12th grade). It is a small rural county with a population of 6694 and the school district itself serves only 719 students. A small number but not an insignificant amount. Their schools are a source of pride in their community and have just received a rural education grant to buy chrome books as they needed a boost so that all their kids had access to education during a pandemic. Also, using technology in education benefits the students greatly. Access to technology should be a standard as is access to quality education.
UX Requirements
Key demographics
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Age range: students grades kindergarten - 12th grade (ages 5-18), teachers (ages 26-55), families/parents (ages 27-45), staff (ages 22-58), community (all ages)
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Gender: binary, non binary, cis, trans, gender neutral, agender, pangender, genderqueer, two-spirit, third gender, and all, none or a combination of these.
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Common job titles: student, teacher, staff, administration, non-faculty, faculty, community, parent teacher associations, sponsor, board member, family member, parent, guardian.
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Key psychographics
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Values: Education, Equity, Empowerment
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Likes to: provide a safe and inviting learning environment with high expectations for all, while focusing on the development of the whole child in the areas of their academic, social, emotional, and physical well-being
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Wants to: provides students with both rigorous and rewarding academic and extracurricular experiences and continuously strive for excellence each day
Challenges
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What is holding them back from achieving their goals? : Pandemic, lack of funds for laptops, technology for e-learning/remote learning
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Preferred channels
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Email, phone, etc: Phone, Text, Email, DMs, Social Media, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
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Browses social media platforms like: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
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Preferred content types
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Do they like to read magazines, books, watch TV? News channels, Newspapers, TV, Magazines
Key Findings from User Surveys
Initially, I thought that crisis management was top priority for users of a school district site. After conducting user interviews, I found that although at the beginning of the pandemic, staff, admin, and teachers were scrambling to sort through the crisis, now parents feel the school districts have a better handle on moving forward. With updates on public health policies, plans in place for whatever closures or delays that may happen, and procedures in place for quarantine, parents/families feel confident that schools will start in-person teaching by the next academic school year.
Initially, I thought that crisis management was top priority for users of a school district site. After conducting user interviews, I found that although at the beginning of the pandemic, staff, admin, and teachers were scrambling to sort through the crisis, now parents feel the school districts have a better handle on moving forward. With updates on public health policies, plans in place for whatever closures or delays that may happen, and procedures in place for quarantine, parents/families feel confident that schools will start in-person teaching by the next academic school year.
Top 4 topics requested​
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Technology learning
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Curriculum
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Extra curricular
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Safety and Security
Top 5 information requested​
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Calendar
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School Resources
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District/School News
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Student Information Systems (Powerschool, EschoolPlus)
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Athletics/Schedule (surprising that this high on user tasks during a pandemic)
Comperative Analysis
I started my research with competitive analysis to get a better idea of what users expect from a school district website. Through user surveys and interviews, I found many of the sites to be a resource for teachers and staff first then parents/families and students second. Parents/families/students relied on getting the information they needed from school newsletters via email and directly from their teachers. I wanted to design from the perspective of a teacher who is in need to educate their students and their families on how to use google docs, how to attend virtual classes, and how to keep up with their education plan during a pandemic.
Competitive analysis of Savannah-Chatham county school district Site.
Competitive analysis of Dodge County school district site.
Competitive analysis of Jasper County charter school site.
Competitive analysis of Savannah-Chatham county school district Site.
Calhoun County School District Site
Content Strategy
I continued forward in the design process with user stories and tasks to test for.
User Stories -->
Sitemap Audits
I audited different school district sites to get a better idea of content strategy. With lack of participants for card sorting, I had to rely heavily on competitive analysis for the design process.
The Iterative Process
I sketched wireframes that have gone through rounds of iterative changes based off of feedback from subject matter experts (accessibility, inclusivity, surveying youth, information architecture, and web design). I focused on ease of flow that supports transparency of information and urgency of changing public health policies.
Wireframe sketches of proposed landing pages completed with hero carousel, events feature, district news and social feeds.
Wireframe sketches of most requested subpages from user surveys.
Final wireframe sketch of proposed redesign of Calhoun County School District site.
Wireframe sketches of proposed landing pages completed with hero carousel, events feature, district news and social feeds.
"Can you please be nicer to me? This is my first pandemic."
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-Young Child to Mother
Branding
Mood Board and Style Tile based on foliage, creeks, and vineyards in Calhoun County (Georgia, USA).
Conclusion
Final Thoughts
What worked?
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Comparative analysis for content strategy
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Branding strategy based on nature
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User surveys and interviews
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What didn't work?
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Soliciting input from youth (not relevant to the design process of this particular project)
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Card Sorting (lack of participants)
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Lack of participants for user testing during the winter holidays (conflicting schedules for teachers, students and their families)
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What were my doubts going into the project?
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I questioned the relevancy of soliciting input from youth for this particular design project. It did provide a unique perspective into what the academic year has been for students and their families. All relevant information were gathered from informal interviews.
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What surprised me the most?
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Most school districts are online now and have had plans in place for crisis management. Comparative analysis was heavily relied on to update Calhoun County School District site to meet standards of other school district sites.
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What would I have done differently if given more time?
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Heuristics Evaluation
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Automated Testing using plugins (heat mapping, screen reader compatibility, contrast checker, WCAG requirements checklist, Stark, Wave, Axe)
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Manual Testing (keyboard accessibility, focus indicator, screen readers, voice over, open source speech reader, mute voice overs)
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Usability Testing with Live Users
What did I learn while doing this project?
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The public education system is well supported by passionate educators, staff, students and their families, and motivated members of the community. Most districts have been online for the past 5 years and have experience applying modern technology in lesson planning and e-learning. I spoke to a parent of 2nd graders who expressed that last academic year prepared his kids to follow schedules, learn how to type and even use google docs. He is hopeful that in-person learning will continue next academic school year. It makes sense that rural areas may be behind on the technological aspect as these districts tend to lack funding for these tools. It is hopeful with rural education grants, an awareness that modern technology and internet access is now a basic right for students of all backgrounds to be able to access the highest quality education possible.
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How will I use that information in the future?
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Everyone has the right to access the very best education possible. Building sites with accessibility and inclusivity in mind from the very beginning only strengthens communities and helps to bridge gaps caused by economic or social divides. It really does take a village to raise a child and I am impressed by the passion many community members express to keep kids on the path to success no matter what the odds.
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Next Steps
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Hamburger Menu
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Mobile viewport
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Internal pages
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User flows from more user tasks