Updating the EHRC website, focusing on user needs
Six months after the launch of its Working Forward campaign, which supports pregnant women and new mothers at work, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) needed to update the campaign website and associated resources.
EHRC chose Scroll for this work because of the high quality of our copy, our focus on user needs, and our track record with similar projects.
The challenge
The EHRC is the leading national authority on equality and human rights issues. The Working Forward campaign calls on UK employers to pledge to make British workplaces the best they can be for pregnant women and new mothers.
The Working Forward website and resources have to appeal to different audiences:
employers, to persuade them to pledge to the campaign
employees, to motivate them to get their organisations on board
senior management and business leaders, to communicate detailed information
The website for EHRC’s Working Forward campaign needed a full refresh after its launch in 2016.
The website was geared towards the launch. It needed a thorough overhaul to make it relevant to existing members and persuasive to organisations thinking about joining.
The overall aim was to make a fully integrated campaign that was attractive and easy to understand for new users, as well as useful for existing members. Everything, including ‘static’ guidance on the main EHRC website and downloadable resources, needed to be brought inside the campaign narrative.
What they say about working with Scroll
“Scroll stood out from the pack with their emphasis on user needs and understanding of the GDS style guide. They have been extremely easy to work with and challenge the team here when something doesn’t make sense to the user. I would highly recommend them to anyone.”
Louisa Kane, Communications Manager, EHRC
The solution
Scroll undertook a content audit and detailed critique of the existing copy and materials. We put user needs at the heart of the process, examining analytics data and interviewing key stakeholders to make sure we understood what users wanted from the content.
After the EHRC agreed with our conclusions and recommendations, we developed an overarching content plan for all items connected to the campaign, linking them to specific user needs and designing optimised metadata for each one.
We began copywriting new material, prioritising key pages and resources so that EHRC could communicate the many benefits of joining the campaign in time for International Women’s Day. We then went on to rebuild the rest of the Working Forward pages, enhancing navigation throughout and marrying new pages with related guidance on the main site to improve user experience.
After our good work on the website and PR materials, the EHRC chose us again to edit and rework the subject matter expert guidance documents for campaign members.
We ‘chunked’ the expert-drafted guidance into manageable pieces. We:
rewrote some elements for usability
used plain English
applied consistent tone, style and terminology
We grouped these into ‘action packs’ on key topics that members would use to fulfil their campaign pledges.
Throughout the project, we kept in close touch with the EHRC communications and web teams, checking with them that they were happy with our approach at every step. We talked through options and provided sample text, inviting early feedback so that we could deliver exactly what was needed in good time.
Results
Radically improved usability of the campaign website and resources.
Aligned all materials under a single tone, style and narrative.
Prioritised urgent items to supply essential copy before key deadlines.
Maintained close contact with the project leader.