The Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH), located in Barrie, Ontario, is the largest Health Centre in North Simcoe Muskoka. RVH provides high-quality care and offers specialized services and technology not found anywhere else in the region.
The RVH website was updated in 2015 to meet Accreditation Canada standards, however, the user interface had since become dated. As visitors and patients rely on the RVH website for valuable and accurate information before visiting the Health Centre, the website was identified as a vital tool to help improve wayfinding. Furthermore, an upgraded website could provide better accessibility, fully responsive navigation menus, security standards, maps, and program information for all patients and visitors.
With any large healthcare website there is an abundance of information that needs to be properly organized, easily kept up to date, and amalgamated when possible. The main challenge with re-developing the existing RVH site was reorganizing the information in a way that would make sense to a variety of different users. In addition, RVH needed a foundation website and research institute connected to their main site.
- Design a custom, user-centric creative concept that aligns with the RVH brand identity
- Properly organize information that makes sense from different user perspectives
- Significantly reduce page count of the existing sites and streamline content for the website
Solution
Sandbox worked with the team at RVH to develop a sophisticated multi-site install using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS), which enables shared functionality between the main site and microsites. WordPress allows website administrators to easily manage a large range of content and update information that is perpetually changing. Additionally, the new site migrated the RVH physician portal onto the main site. As a result, physicians can log in, and access confidential information used for patient referrals not visible to the public. Sandbox ensured the new RVH website functions across a wide variety of devices and web browsers to ensure accessibility for all visitors, staff and patients. Finally, the website was updated to further support those with impairments or disabilities by adhering to AODA standards. Many features have been implemented to better organize the information on their site. For instance, a concierge menu in conjunction with a mega menu work in collaboration to ensure all information is easily accessible in a finite number of clicks.
Outcome
The new website improves RVH wayfinding and provides a seamless user experience for all staff, patients, and visitors. The website has become a major vehicle in helping highlight programs, patient and visitor access, and physician information, thereby helping to reduce the demand for, and reliance on, printed materials.
Sandbox are experts in the healthcare sector when it comes to developing digital solutions. This allows us to recommend industry best practices for websites such as a physicians directory or a location and services lookup tool.
> Website Design & Development
When developing a new website, it is important to choose a CMS that meets the client's needs. For this project, RVH was interested in an Open Source CMS. Sandbox assessed that WordPress would be the best fit for them.
> WordPress Development
The new website leverages a custom design, developed by Sandbox Software using responsive design best practices. We used our experience in the healthcare sector, user-centric website development to ensure the site lends itself well across a range of screens and devices, and satisfies WCAG 2.1 accessibility and W3C compliance.
> Auditing & Quality Assurance