CASE STUDY
Fresno County CMS Migration
Project Overview
The main website for Fresno County had become dated and was using a legacy CMS tool which made updates difficult for users. The project went to bid for a new CMS and included a new Design layout.
The contract was awarded and the winning vendor assisted in part of the content migration which included over 60,000 pieces of content across 30 departments with over 200 content editors.
Project duration February 2017 - October 2017.
My role within this project evolved as the project progressed, initially I was a subject matter expert but as the project progressed other members of the team were reassigned until I was the only member left running the project to launch. I assisted many departments migrate content and I provided training for content editors.
| Tech Stack | Enterprise CMS (vendor-hosted), Google Analytics |
|---|---|
| Project Type | Content migration & accessibility initiative |
| Role | Project Lead, Subject Matter Expert, Accessibility SME, Trainer |
| Completion Date | Oct 2017 |
Key Features
- Reports: I approached this from an analytical stand point, I created reports by department with detailed information about each page within their department.
- Accessibility: After each department completed a section of their site migration, I would provide them with an accessibility report.
- Continued Accessibility: We acquired an additional third party tool which would crawl our entire site and provide reports to departments on a monthly basis.
Project Gallery
Design and Development Insights
My role evolved over the project's life — starting as a subject matter expert, and becoming the sole team member driving migration and training through to launch.
User Research
We relied heavily on google analytics to determine the contents freshness, this helped many departments review their current content and make the decision if it should be migrated. We also took this opportunity to ensure all content created met WCAG AA accessibility standards.
Pain Points
- So Much: The amount of content was a lot for some departments to handle.
- Legal Issues: Some departments are required by law to present information to the public.
- Are We Done Yet: Some departments struggled in deciding what to migrate.
Launch
After migrating over 30 departments and over 60k pieces of content while ensuring all new content was a minimum WCAG AA compliance it was time for launch. A server was prepared and the migration took place early Monday morning.
Fresno County (Additional changes have been made by customer since launch)
Lessons Learned & Future Improvements
Impact
The updated website on the new CMS made it easier to maintain and track accessibility changes. This ensured we would reach the widest possible audience and provide the best experience for both content editors and the public.
What I Learned
I learned an enormous amount about accessibility standards and this project highlighted how many accessibility issues we currently had with our site. This also taught me a lot about growing as a trainer and project lead.
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