Providing Quality Care and Information
The Challenge:
Fitting a web site redesign into a nonprofit budget is almost always a challenge, as was the case for ElderHealth Northwest (EHNW), a long standing adult day-health provider dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for frail elders and people with chronic illnesses and disabilities. In the spring of 2003 ElderHealth Northwest contacted NPower Seattle to help with redesigning their web site. ElderHealth's site was being graciously hosted by another social service agency at the time, which, while a generous gift, made it very difficult to do any updating. This resulted in outdated information and an underutilized site.
EHNW met with NPower Seattle staff in May 2003 to talk about the redesign and determine what ElderHealth Northwest needed in their new web site. A scope of work was drawn up and presented to EHNW. Even with NPower Seattle's subsidized consulting rates, the scope of work was still financially out of reach for EHNW. Not wanting to throw in the towel on the redesign, talk turned to trying to find a volunteer to do the work.
The Solution:
NPower Seattle posted the volunteer opportunity on the Volunteer Matching page of their web site, and found a dedicated, qualified volunteer to take on this project. Over the course of the next year, EHNW and NPower Seattle worked together to plan, design and build their new web site. Careful consideration was given to the layout, architecture and content of the site. "My fear was that we might create something cluttered or artistic, but hard to use," says Doug Harkness, Outreach Coordinator for EHNW. "I wanted something user-friendly, something with a logical structure and one which could be easily updated." In addition to the content of the site, layout was also carefully considered. "I did, of course, think about aging eyes, and tried to provide our site with large font and high contrast," says Doug.
The Impact:
In the spring of 2004 ElderHealth Northwest launched their new site, complete with information on their full range of services, photos of their day centers, contact information for service providers, an employment page, driving directions to their facilities and a slew of other information. With a user-friendly format and access to the host server, the site is easy for staff to update, and as such is the most current information EHNW has.
"For me, the web site is one means by which we acknowledge that we're looking at the big picture of what it means to be a care giver in today's world," comments Doug. "We sought to convey that we're an established, community-based organization borne out of the concerns of folks who are trying to keep their loved ones as independent as possible and that we would love the opportunity to help them."
With the planning support of NPower Seattle, and implementation carried out by one phenomenal volunteer, ElderHealth Northwest now has a web site to be proud of, at a rate they could afford.
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