BT48

Improving user access to key information on employment in Northern Ireland

admin — Mon, 10 May 2021 15:19:23 +0000

BT48 took part in an open tender process and were awarded the contract to update the Labour Relations Agency's Joomla site and App that was no longer meeting the needs of their users.

Client:

Labour Relations Agency

Sector:

Public sector

Duration:

12 week build

What we did:

The challenge

The brief was to update the site's information architecture to allow users to find the content that mattered most to them. Through extensive research and analysis of user journeys we restructured the site from reflecting the organisational structure to one that reflects the employee journey.

Our approach

We developed the site on Drupal 8 and focused on effective use of tagging and content relationships to allow users to find relevant content. The site uses Solr to provide an enhanced search function.

The site was built as a Progressive Web App to replace the existing iOS and Android applications.

The results

The sites are fully responsive for mobile and tablet devices and offer the LRA team full control over all content as well as ensuring that key resources are accessible to users in a variety of ways.
Site traffic has increased since launch while key metrics such as time on pages and bounce rate reflect a greater engagement with content on the site.
Placement in search results have also improved due to better structured content and the use of schema
The flexible nature of the information structure has been highlighted by the ease with which the site has accommodated the COVID-19 response and the development of the Early Conciliation portal

Working with BT48 has been terrific. Their experience and expertise have delivered great results for us and for our customers. If we ever have a question or need support they are so helpful and quick to respond.
Keelin Kelly, Communications Manager, LRA

Hosting and maintaining legacy Drupal sites

admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 08:35:20 +0000

The Public Health Agency had a suite of Drupal sites ranging from Drupal 6 to Drupal 8. We migrated the Drupal 6 sites to Drupal 8 and provide ongoing support and maintenance for the entire range of sites.

Client:

Public Health Agency Northern Ireland

Sector:

Public sector

Duration:

May 2019 to present

What we did:

The challenge

The Public Health Agency had built a range of Drupal sites over a number of years using in-house expertise. The sites were based on various versions of Drupal and built in a variety of different ways.

When PHA were no longer able to rely on their in-house expertise alone we were contracted to provide long-term hosting and support.

What we did

We started out by standardising the hosting on Platform.sh and adding each site to our automated hosting and support plan. This provided a stable foundation on which to move ahead with security and functional updates.

The results

Uptime

The sites have an overall uptime of over 99.99% uptime since the move and all sites are patched and updated within hours of a security release becoming available.

Performance under pressure

The clearest endorsement of the move has been the continued performance of the Public Health Agency site despite a 1300% increase in visitors and a 1500% increase in sessions as a result of the COVID-19 emergency.

Supporting and optimising Drupal on Platform.sh

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 13:59:22 +0000

Providing high quality Drupal hosting in partnership with Platform.sh and ensuring the site remains up to date and secure at all times.

Client:

CCEA

Sector:

Public sector

Duration:

May 2019 to present

What we did:

The challenge

CCEA knew that they needed to move to Drupal 8 - but with the volume of data on their site they were reluctant to jump in to Drupal 8 without some support.

We worked with the in-house team to develop a content structure that is flexible and adaptable but also reflects how CCEA's users think about CCEA.

The site is hosted on platform.sh and provides CCEA with access to a modern hosting environment that can easily scale when required - a necessity given the seasonal nature of CCEA's traffic.

Our approach

Working with the in-house development team at CCEA we offer guidance around optimising the site while also delivering our maintenance and support package to ensure the site is secure and up to date at all times.

The results

As well as providing support during the development phase we now partner with CCEA on ensuring the site evolves to continue to meet the needs of their users. Some key takeaways from the project have been:

increased confidence within the team around deploying security and feature updates via platform.sh
integration with Amazon Web Services for file handling
site scaled easily to deal with results days in August 2020

Delivering digital solutions

admin — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 12:03:42 +0000

Providing custom Drupal-based solutions as well as building and optimising the main website for the Education Authority in Northern Ireland.

Client:

Education Authority Northern Ireland

Sector:

Public sector

Duration:

2018 to Now

What we did:

The challenge

The Education Authority were using a legacy system that was no longer fit for purpose. The site was badly organised and users found it difficult to find what they needed and staff found it difficult to keep track of what was on the site.

What we did

We carried out an information architecture review that highlighted some key areas for improvement. Following our audit we developed a new Drupal site that provided the flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of the organisation over time.

We created a corporate style guide using accessibility checked versions of the corporate colours and produced a modern site that allows the content to shine.

The results

Over the past three years we have worked with EA on a range of successful projects including:

Improved search for digital admissions
Online Free School Meal applications
Northern Ireland Substitute Teacher Register website
Music Service subsite development
Procurement portal update
Private Sector Transport portal
Online Parental Payment application system
Online requests for Statutory Assessment

Improving access to safeguarding information

admin — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 12:00:37 +0000

BT48 took part in an open tender process and were awarded the contract to update the Safeguarding Board's Drupal 7 site that was no longer meeting the needs of their users.

Client:

Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland

Sector:

Public sector

Duration:

12 weeks development

What we did:

The challenge

The brief was to update the site to allow users to find the wealth of information hidden within the site. SBNI had already developed an information architecture so we just needed to validate it with real users and then develop the site based on those findings.

Our approach

We developed the site in Drupal 9 and focused on:

highlighting the partnership nature of the organisation
the range of resources available to users
the different user groups who may need to access information on the site

The results

The sites are fully responsive for mobile and tablet devices and offer the SBNI team full control over all content as well as ensuring that key resources are accessible to users in a variety of ways. The new site structure makes the management of resources, news and static information more manageable for the in-house team.

As part of the development we also built a lightweight event management system to allow the team to manage event booking online rather than through email and spreadsheets.

Working with BT48 was an absolute pleasure from start to finish. The whole team was fantastic and helped us navigate our website refresh with total professionalism. Our knowledge of what this would entail was limited to say the least, but BT48 managed us through the process with aplomb.

They understood our boundaries, fears, other work demands and resourcing and worked with us to come up with a plan that suited us and them. They kept to the schedule whilst remaining flexible and made such an effort to understand our business and priorities.

Cannot recommend them highly enough.
Helen McKenzie, Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland

Promoting cultural opportunities during COVID

admin — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 14:39:04 +0000

Ards and North Down Borough Council wanted to bring together their cultural offering - merging their legacy museum and Arts Centre website - while also developing a platform to showcase festivals in the area.

Client:

Ards and North Down Borough Council

Sector:

Public sector

Duration:

12 weeks development

What we did:

The challenge

Ards and North Down Borough Council had two separate legacy sites - Ards Arts Centre and North Down Museum - that they wanted to bring together into a single digital offering. The site also needed to provide a platform for a variety of festivals that the council produce during the year.

We carried out a detailed UX audit and in tandem with the project team developed a simple information architecture that lays out the cultural offerings across the borough for visitors and residents alike.

Our approach

Building on Drupal and the Domain Access module allowed us to easily share content between the main Culture site and the festival sites. Following an extensive UX phase we built the site to highlight the wide range of in-person activities available - either as events or courses offered by the council.

We developed a single main site - AND Culture - to highlight the core offerings of the council while the satellite festival sites can feed content into the main site as required, or keep their content entirely separate if necessary.

The results

Unfortunately the UX phase couldn't foresee the impact that COVID would have on the ability of the council to offer in person events. However, the site was built to be flexible and this was highlighted by the ease with which the focus shifted to virtual exhibitions, talks and events.