Case Study
NMRC saw a need for improved accessibility and user experience for their nonprofit website. ArcStone stepped up to help.
National Mentoring Resource Center engaged with us here at ArcStone to upgrade their website to be more in-line and on-brand with their MENTOR website. This is an organization that we were genuinely proud to work alongside. They empower today’s youth through mentoring research, investments, and programs. The organization has provided mentoring resources for their communities since 2014. They are a thought leader in youth mentoring and have a large and varied online audience. NMRC needed a website that mirrored its values and could meet its standard of excellence while offering a seamless user experience.
Our Role
- WordPress Website Redesign
- Support & Hosting
- Content Migration
- Accessibility
- User Experience
Mel English
Sr. Program Manager
The NMRC is funded through a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) so we had a standard of excellence to meet that the team at ArcStone exceeded, considering the size and reach of the NMRC website. In working with the team at ArcStone we have designed and delivered an exceptional product to youth mentoring practitioners and youth-serving professionals.
The Challenge:
Our collaboration with NMRC started back in late 2019. The organization sought more intuitive navigation for its existing website and an upgrade that would align with its MENTOR website. They needed to improve their website accessibility and overall user experience. Because of funding, the redesign had to meet a standard of excellence and be section 508 compliant. The challenge lies in the limitations within the navigation of the existing site. With an outdated site, the user experience was suffering. ArcStone’s expert designers worked alongside the NMRC team to determine best practices for a great user experience.
Our Approach
NMRC had clear goals, but the project was layered, requiring collaboration and attention to every detail. We first created a blueprint for the project to ensure that our approach to the redesign would meet NMRC’s standards and meet the goals of the new website.
We spent ample time collaborating with the NMRC team to determine objectives and create a strategic plan to achieve them. The redesign’s priorities were creating intuitive navigation, giving the site an updated and streamlined user experience, creating new smart tools, and building the site with section 508 compliance in mind.
Section 508 compliance was a key objective for the project, so every asset on the site needed to comply to maintain the integrity of our work. During the redesign process, we prioritized critical updates like site tools such as a geo-mapping tool, a self-assessment tool, and a new intelligent search feature.
Reviewing the Results
Our intention with this project was to create a strong partnership with NMRC to ensure a positive result. Through months of close collaboration and strategic work, we created a website that was accessible, modern, and met the standard of excellence set forth by our client.
Our design and development team took this project on with the understanding that 508 compliance and accessibility were key factors. This adds a layer of detail that increases the challenge of creating a great website. But, we leaned on our team and the team at NMRC to fulfill our objectives and create a beautiful new NMRC website. We are proud to help NMRC drive its mission forward with an effective and efficient new online presence.
144% Increase
After the redesign, pages viewed per session increased by 144% compared to the previous year.
90% Improvement
Since the redesign, the overall bounce rate for the site improved by 90%.
0 Errors
The website homepage now contains zero accessibility errors and warnings.