Client Background:
The Right Time is an initiative by Power to Decide, designed to provide trusted information about contraceptive methods and reproductive health to the residents of Missouri. The website offers comprehensive resources, clinic locator tools, and user-centered educational content, aiming to empower individuals to make informed decisions about their reproductive health. The Right Time’s platform required a robust, flexible infrastructure to accommodate a diverse range of informational needs.
Project Goals:
1. Implement a Decoupled Architecture: Separate the front and backend, using a React-based frontend with a Drupal backend to create a responsive, high-performing site with enhanced user engagement.
2. Enhance Accessibility and Usability: Ensure that all content adheres to WCAG 2.1 standards, providing an inclusive experience for all users, including those with disabilities.
3. Develop a Dynamic Clinic Locator: Integrate a clinic locator feature with a map interface that allows users to find nearby reproductive health services easily.
4. Design a User-Friendly Content Management System (CMS): Enable seamless management of content updates, blog posts, and health resources for staff with minimal technical expertise.
5. Optimize for Mobile Devices: Prioritize mobile responsiveness to provide a smooth, consistent experience across devices.
Challenges and Solutions:
• Decoupled Architecture with React and Drupal:
• Challenge: Ensuring seamless communication between the React frontend and Drupal backend while maintaining performance and user experience.
• Solution: Developed a custom API layer to bridge Drupal and React, allowing for smooth data exchange and content rendering. This setup provided a flexible, modular system that supports future scalability.
• Accessibility and Compliance:
• Challenge: Ensuring the site’s comprehensive content met accessibility standards for all users.
• Solution: Conducted in-depth accessibility audits and implemented improvements across interactive elements, contrast ratios, keyboard navigation, and ARIA labels, making the site fully WCAG 2.1 compliant.
• Interactive Clinic Locator:
• Challenge: Developing a responsive clinic locator that offers accurate, location-based results.
• Solution: Integrated a dynamic map interface with geolocation capabilities and search filters to help users locate services based on proximity. Customized API calls to ensure accuracy in search results and improve response times.
• Content Management for Non-Technical Users:
• Challenge: Staff required an intuitive CMS to regularly update health resources and blog content without needing technical expertise.
• Solution: Configured Drupal’s admin interface to streamline content management workflows, creating customized fields and dashboards that simplified updates and allowed easy access to key features.
• Mobile Optimization:
• Challenge: Providing a seamless experience on mobile devices for a platform serving a broad demographic.
• Solution: Used responsive design techniques and optimized assets for mobile, ensuring fast load times and intuitive navigation on smaller screens. Features such as the clinic locator and educational content adapted effectively to mobile views.
Deployment and Testing:
• Phased Deployment: Released components incrementally to monitor stability and functionality across live and staging environments.
• Cross-Browser and Cross-Device Testing: Conducted extensive testing across all major browsers and device types to verify responsiveness, accessibility, and functionality consistency.
• Real-Time Monitoring and Adjustments: Implemented monitoring tools to observe user engagement and performance, making optimizations based on collected data.
Results:
• Improved Access to Reproductive Health Resources: The decoupled setup and user-centered design provided a fast, accessible, and informative resource, supporting The Right Time’s mission to empower users with valuable health information.
• Increased User Engagement: With a responsive design, dynamic content, and intuitive features like the clinic locator, users could more easily access relevant information, increasing site engagement.
• Enhanced Accessibility Compliance: Achieved full WCAG 2.1 compliance, ensuring inclusivity for users of all abilities.
• Positive User Feedback: Users reported ease in accessing health resources and praised the intuitive layout and responsive tools, especially the clinic locator.
Value Added:
• Scalable Decoupled Framework: The React-Drupal architecture created a flexible, scalable setup that can adapt to future expansion or feature updates.
• Accessibility and Usability: By meeting WCAG 2.1 standards and prioritizing a mobile-friendly design, The Right Time can reach a broader audience and serve as a reliable health resource.
• Sustainable CMS Setup: The simplified CMS configuration empowered non-technical users, reducing dependency on technical support and facilitating continuous content updates.