Accessible redesign and launch of Library website
Cambridge Public Library
Innovation Synopsis
The Library embarked on a long-term project to redesign and replace our entire public website, an essential tool in information sharing and raising awareness about our many services. We welcome all, inspire minds and empower community. Our website is one of the key platforms where community members learn about programs and services, from senior services delivery, local history and digital newspapers, author talks, digital equity and STEAM learning opportunities, to how to get a library card or book a room. The Library circulates approximately 1.8 million items and patrons can access our catalog and digital resources online. We welcome roughly 960,000 patrons, serving Cambridge’s 120,000 residents and their visitors. CPL locations, branch features, hours, directions and MBTA information are on our website. Additionally, CPL hosts approx. 3,900 free community programs at the Main Library and six branches—all are posted on our online events calendar, along with registration details.
Challenge/Opportunity
The Cambridge Public Library’s website had not been redesigned in over 15 years. It's fonts, colors and layout were dated and did not meet modern accessibility guidelines. Analytics showed that much of the old website was underutilized, validating the need to reorganize the content to meet visitor expectations.
Moving our content to the City’s modern web platform provided the department with improved communication opportunities, as well as bringing the Library’s website in alignment with the City’s current website standards.
The Library website is one of the City’s most visited pages, so it was crucial to ensure that information was easily accessible to patrons. The website is also a key platform for storytelling around our initiatives, programs, and services aimed at fulfilling our mission and strategic framework, and it is a connector to our other storytelling channels. It houses our newsletter, strategic framework, social media channels, press releases, and news articles.
Key Elements of Innovation
We saw a need to improve ease of use and readability for all visitors. The old site’s appearance included a red background in various locations, which can be difficult for colorblind or visually impaired viewers to process. The project team created personas, or characters, based on our research to represent the different visitor types that might use the library, such as a recent immigrant mom and her family and a retired college professor living in the community. Each aspect of the new design was required to serve one or more likely personas.
The website needed to be optimized from a technical perspective to be scalable and appear properly on the various devices currently in the market, such as smartphones and tablets.
The project team, comprised of Library staff from Adult Services, IT and Communications and members of City IT, constructed a careful communications plan to launch the site to staff, City representatives, stakeholders, and patrons, as well as to gather feedback.
Achieved Outcomes
The website was user-tested by professional Quality Assurance Testers, volunteer patrons invited to review the site, and numerous library and City staff. With such a wide variety of use cases and perspectives, the project team addressed any final revisions requested prior to launch and ensured that the site’s navigation was smooth for all visitors.
Launched on July 7, 2024, the new site features an eye-catching home page, with sufficient white space to facilitate reading, easy-to-see icon-links to our most popular secondary pages, and consistent headers and footers for clear navigation. We've received positive feedback from colleagues from across the City, stakeholders including Library Trustees, and community members.
The new site improves accessibility, utilizes current web standards, and displays accurately across all of the common portable devices and desktop computers. The average visits per week increased by 2,232 visitors per week in the first three weeks post launch.
