Making a Valuable Web Site Better
Press release, 20 September 2007
Updated site helps IT professionals volunteer to supply their skills to charities.
The iT4Communities web site has updated functionality, accessibility, usability and look and feel—all of which contributes to the initiative’s ability to encourage companies and individuals with professional IT skills to volunteer for the benefit of the community.
Spiral Arm was chosen as the supplier after competitive tender in December 2006. The challenge was to take on-board an existing site that was previously outsourced, make feature enhancements, and improve the accessibility and usability.
Taking on a code base developed elsewhere is a risk on a project with an aggressive timescale. The risk was reduced by making phased releases of the software. Each release gives everyone working on the project confidence in the progress that was being made, and also a chance to appraise and adjust the development, which happened a number of times. The use of established open source Java® technologies of Struts and Hibernate further reduced the risk of implementation.
The enhancements include the addition of RSS, making volunteering opportunities easier to view, which helps with iT4Communities aim of bridging the gap between IT professionals and charities needing IT help.
John Davies, Programme Manager at iT4C, said: “We were very pleased with the professional approach Spiral Arm took in upgrading our website, www.it4communities.org.uk. The site is now better structured, more accessible and easier to use for all our visitors. The sophisticated database functionality and improved admin interface means more charities are now benefiting from our service and the excellent work of our IT volunteers.”
Being Brighton based gives Spiral Arm access to a range of additional expertise. For the accessibility and site design, Hobo Internet worked as an integral part of the team, conducting the usability study, designing the new look, and contributing advice and hands-on design skills.
Visit http://www.it4communities.org.uk to see how iT4C’s new website helps to introduce volunteer IT Professionals to charities needing pro bono IT help and support and read the case studies showing just some of the many success stories since the upgrade.
Notes:
- Spiral Arm (www.spiralarm.com) is a Brighton based software company, specializing in innovative applications.
- iT4Communities (www.it4communities.org.uk) is the leading national IT volunteering service. iT4Communities is a charitable programme of the Information Technologists' Company, the 100th Livery Company of the City of London. iT4Communities' services are free to registered charities, non-profit and community groups.
- Hobo Internet (www.hobointernet.com), also Brighton based, design and develop great looking websites with a strong focus on ease of use and visitor satisfaction. For a before-and-after view of the site, see: http://hobointernet.com/portfolio/it4communities-before-and-after
- Need contact details?