A low-carbon website for an environmental nonprofit.
Sustainable Milton is a local environmental nonprofit organization that focuses on community engagement, advocacy, and education. Their previous website didn’t do them justice as it was difficult to use, had a very large environmental footprint, and experienced many accessibility issues. My goals for their new website were to:
- Make an inviting website where they could highlight their goals, accomplishments, and everything in between.
- Build the site to use as little energy and resources as possible. (Ultimately lowering their carbon footprint and increasing site performance.)
- Establish their organization through brand consistency.
- Make the website accessible and responsive.
- Improve user flow and streamline online form processes.
It was very important that Sustainable Milton’s new website help establish who they are and give them a recognizable image, as they didn’t have a brand guide or design consistency in place. To do this, I expanded off of what they had: a logo and a sunflower graphic. The new website uses the logo’s colours and some added beiges to balance out the bold colours. I designed matching graphic elements and stayed away from a sharp style by using rounded corners and waves. I brought this design to their Square site, redesigning it to match.
0.37g of CO2/view
Many steps were required to build the website in an environmentally-conscious way, including designing the website to be intuitive with simplified navigation, and optimizing all images to significantly reduce the weight of the website. I used www.websitecarbon.com and www.ecograder.com to check the website’s environmental footprint and made adjustments accordingly. The About page made the biggest improvement, going from producing 2.20g of CO2/view (dirtier than 90%) to only 0.25g (cleaner than 73%). It improved by 88%!
Improved sitemap and user flow
The original sitemap was cluttered and made navigating the website overwhelming and confusing. I reorganized the information and reduced the number of pages from 12 down to six to offer a more intuitive experience.
The original membership sign-up was also a difficult process. It involved downloading a PDF, signing it, emailing it back, returning to the website to pay for the membership, then downloading one or two forms—depending on if the member is a youth—and signing and emailing it back. The new process was simplified and automated to make it smooth for both the user and Sustainable Milton: fill out the online form, pay for the membership, then the relevant documents get automatically emailed for electronic signing.
“We had the pleasure of working with Isabelle on our website redesign and I couldn’t believe our good fortune! She was able to intuit our vaguely expressed ideas and turn them into a cohesive, attractive online expression of environmental advocacy. She approached problems creatively and knowledgeably, always able to make suggestions that accomplished the task.
Sandra Voisin, Sustainable Milton Communication’s Director
Not only was the end product delivered in a timely manner, the whole process was painless. Isabelle was patient with my technological ignorance, always taking time to clearly answer my questions. When the project was complete, she compiled important information into a clearly organized folder for future use and generously made herself available if problems arose.
I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Isabelle’s work. She is a creative, knowledgeable and highly competent professional.“