Digital Citizenship

Migration overview

Customer challenges on the old website

• High reading level: The average reading level was 13, or the equivalent of the expected reading ability of a tertiary student. This created a challenge for site visitors to understand and engage with the information.
   
• Difficult navigation: The site operated as a single news listing page with many articles and resources. Its structure and filtering logic created navigation challenges. While users could determine what content related to them, some content was repeated across the tags for parents, teachers, and students. 
   
• Scattered content and outdated information: The website had broken links and outdated resources. Users had to search through over 100 articles to find complete information on one topic. This made it hard to obtain relevant information.
   
• Accessibility and usability: Only 29.6% of images contained alt-text and only half of the videos contained embedded captions. Iconography and search functions were unclear, and it was hard to interpret the action required. This limited the website's ability to serve all users. 

Goals of the migration

Delivery approach

The OneCX Program uses the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) for planning and delivery. This approach breaks down the project into smaller parts, allowing for quick adjustments. Our agile and collaborative approach ensures a smooth migration.

1. Stakeholder collaboration and change management: Using our agile approach, we break the migration out into smaller parts, ‘sprints’. Our small group of subject matter experts (SMEs) held weekly meetings to keep the project on track. This process helps ensure the content is reviewed for accuracy at the relevant stage. The OneCX Change team also created a change communications plan. This involved materials to keep internal stakeholders and customers informed throughout the project.

2. Drafting and content uplift: The discovery phase highlighted the need for a new information architecture, user interface and content design. To address this, the OneCX team rewrote all pages to meet nsw.gov.au standards. 

3. Using content tools: We used Gather Content, a content operations platform. This enabled efficient review, feedback and approval of content. 

4. Training and collaborative build: The OneCX Capability team trained the SMEs in the nsw.gov.au CMS platform, Drupal. This upskilling allowed them to help build some pages. This collaborative approach strengthened SME capability and confidence in managing and updating content on nsw.gov.au.

5. Approval and go-live process: The project owner presented the final pages to the Executive Director for approval. By having a well-informed approval plan, the project launched on time. 

Results

Through streamlined processes and strong partnerships, we were able to enhance the website and mitigate previous challenges. 

Key migration outcomes

• Enhanced accessibility: Achieved a 100% accessibility score, a 9.6% uplift, with improved accessibility on images and videos. This ensures all users can access and interact with the content easily. 
   
• Quality assurance: Siteimprove, our web performance plug-in, reflected a 60.41% improvement, showing the high standards of the new content.
   
• Plain English content: Rewrote content in plain English. This improved readability by 22% and reduced the reading age from grade 13 to grade 9.
   
• Page reduction: Cut the number of pages from 146 to 42 with 8 sections. This made the content easier to manage and navigate.
   
• Modernised content: Updated content, some were up to 7 years old. This ensures all information is current and relevant.
   
• Improved structure and findability: Removed the old finder and grouped related information into clear topics. Relevant tags were also added to reduce duplicated content across audiences. This improved the flow and makes it easier for users to scan and find content, while also improving SEO.
   
• Enhanced SEO: Made the content 5.2% easier to find through search engines.
   
• Improved digital certainty index (DCI): The DCI score increased by 16.4%, it is the average of the accessibility, quality assurance and SEO scores, provided by Siteimprove.  

Key customer benefits

Before the migration, users faced several challenges. The new site addresses these issues by providing a simplified information architecture. Now, users can identify and access relevant topics specific to their needs. Their streamlined user journey has fewer clicks and actions to find information. Students can learn about healthy online habits with clearer information and sub-topics. Educators can now access all teaching resources in one place, while parents can find advice on managing family online activities. The new site enhances user engagement and satisfaction.

Agency perspective