Website Designs For The Third Sector.

SCIP designer Mark James has been busy designing a range of sites for clients across the voluntary, charitable and not-for-profit groups.

SCIP have worked for over 15 years offering low-cost internet and IT support often with organisations from the Third Sector.

Working with not-for-profit organisations whether charities or local government services can mean there are a range of issues unlikely to concern commercial companies.

Two sites Mark has designed recently are Information Prescriptions for Brighton and Hove, and Owlswick School, which both have specific needs to be addressed in the design process.

Information Prescriptions brings together NHS and council

Information Prescriptions was commissioned by Brighton and Hove Council and the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group.  The website provides reliable information to residents of Brighton & Hove who want to improve and support their health and wellbeing.

By giving access to both local and national information the site aims to help people with a long-term health condition or a social care need, plus their families and carers, to find the information they require to help with everyday living.

Mark says; “One of the challenges of this site was to make it interesting but accessible. Many of the users of the site will have medical issues which may mean they have sight problems, or difficulty using computers. We have ensured that the ability to change font size is clearly signposted at the top of the page. Also we have made it as easy as possible to navigate the site, with clear buttons and information in the text to help users who may feel less confident in using websites.”

New site for Owlswick School

Mark has also designed a site for Owlswick School and Children’s Home in Lewes. This independent school provides care and education services for young people who have mild learning difficulties, emotional/social issues and associated challenging behaviours. Mark says:

 “One of the issues around this site was the use of images and not identifying individual children.  We used a variety of means to disguise identity when necessary including Photoshop on individuals’ faces.

“The school also wanted to capture the warm environment which is important to Owlswick and the use of colours and the repetition of the Owl cartoon echoes this.”

Find out more about the use of images online with our featured article.

If you need advice on website design for your organisation, contact Mark on 01273 234 049 or email [email protected].