New govCMS site for ARPANSA

The players

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) is Australia’s main government authority on radiation protection and nuclear safety. In addition to regulating the use of radiation by Australian government organisations/agencies, ARPANSA is also involved in research, best practice methodology, and offers expertise and services around radiation protection and nuclear safety.

The problem

ARPANSA was running an old HTML site that included a limited (and time-consuming) publishing workflow system. It was self-hosted and managed by ARPANSA, built mostly in Dreamweaver. Both the front end (visuals) and back end needed an update. ARPANSA contracted Acquia for an initial assessment and a discovery report. The report identified the need to:

• Migrate to a modern CMS
• Implement an improved information architecture (IA)
• Ensure the site was accessible via mobile and desktop
• Update the visual design and user interface
• Improve content publishing workflow

The solution

Initially Salsa Digital entered the project to help ARPANSA refine its IA. We started with a workshop that looked at IA best practice and tools that ARPANSA could use with its content. From there, ARPANSA was able to work on its own IA, giving it ownership of this important website component.

Pleased with the IA process, ARPANSA then started talking to us about the web redevelopment. During these discussions and our own discovery, it became clear that the site redevelopment was bigger than originally thought. Salsa Digital came back to ARPANSA with a revised, more realistic budget and project scope that focused on value for money and delivering a focused set of features that would benefit ARPANSA. ARPANSA took the business case to its senior management and secured the extra funding to ensure the delivery of key features.

With the project scope more clearly defined (and bigger) ARPANSA then went out to open tender. Salsa Digital won the contract through a competitive tender process.

Once the main part of the project kicked off in February 2017, we focused on the visual look and feel, and the backend site build. For cost benefits we used the govCMS default theme as the foundation for the site’s look and feel because it was already compliant (meeting W3C accessibility standards) and responsive (to mobile and desktop). We then overlaid the ARPANSA visuals onto the template to create a modern look and feel that reflected the ARPANSA brand.

In terms of the backend, we worked collaboratively with ARPANSA to agree on the required functions based on the govCMS Software as a Service (SaaS) offering. As part of the project’s scope we also designed an automated process for content migration to enable ARPANSA’s considerable legacy investment in content/documents to be re-used in the new site.

Notable features of the new site include:

• The ‘Have Your Say’ (HYS) feature, which facilitates more active engagement and a structured feedback process for ARPANSA stakeholders.
• Integration of a UV radiation index tool.
• Discovery tools, such as the facet-based searching/filtering features.
• Automated listings including news, surveys and careers pages.
• Automated homepage components to promote and feature content.
• Side navigation to help users find information (for example, Understanding radiation).

The new website was delivered using a set of agile sprints that lead to the launch of the new site in mid 2017. ARPANSA then engaged Salsa Digital for ongoing site support under our standard support process.

The benefits

ARPANSA’s new site now looks more visually appealing, and the user interface has been updated to create a more engaging user experience. In addition, the IA overhaul means users can find information more easily...and faster.

ARPANSA now experiences all the benefits of govCMS, such as:

• A stable and reliable CMS
• An enterprise-grade CMS vetted and approved by the Department of Finance
• 24x7 enterprise support and proactive monitoring
• Security compliance at the highest level
• An easy-to-use CMS

In addition, the new site gives ARPANSA the flexibility to ‘build’ pages with a variety of templates and components to tailor each page to their needs. The govCMS workflow provides editor and approver roles, delivering complete control with automated workflow.

Finally, the new site is responsive, so it can be viewed from mobiles and tablets as well as desktop computers.

Why Salsa Digital?

Salsa Digital is an Acquia partner with a proven track record working with both Acquia and govCMS. Our developers have experience and accreditation in Drupal/govCMS and in March 2016 we were named Acquia’s Partner of the Year Asia Pacific and Japan (2016). We’re trusted in the marketplace and we know the product extremely well.

ARPANSA and Salsa started working together on the IA and ARPANSA was very happy with the working relationship and Salsa Digital’s tender response. We’ve continued to build a strong relationship with ARPANSA, demonstrating our expertise and professionalism.

“Salsa Digital provided a professional service and our website was delivered on time and on budget. We were very happy with the results and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them.”

Robert Guilfoyle, Senior Communications Officer, ARPANSA