Our partnership with CAP has led us both to discover new ways to create accessible, inclusive digital services.

What we did

  • Content strategy
  • Website design and build
  • Service design
  • Usability testing

Impact measured against UN Sustainable Development Goals

01 no poverty S 03 good health and wellbeing S 04 quality education S 08 decent work and economic growth S 10 reduced inequalities S
View impact report

Since the early days of Christians Against Poverty (CAP) in 1996, there has been a passion to reach those who have been excluded because of their financial circumstances. They’ve prioritised face-to-face debt help, going the extra mile to provide the care clients have needed.

Working with local churches and food banks, they’ve offered clients emergency help, spoken to their creditors and walked alongside them as they journeyed out of debt.

They believe that everyone should be treated with dignity, live in freedom and have equal opportunities, and are constantly seeking ways to make this possible.

The website project was a crucial step forward in making their support even more inclusive.

112%

increase in conversions for service users since launch

68%

increase in user sessions since launch

93%

satisfaction rate of the new website from on-page survey

It’s important that we make it easy for everyone to access our services, rather than putting extra barriers in the way of those that need them most. William Joseph have helped us turn this into a practical reality with a much more accessible and inclusive website.

Christians Against Poverty

While it’s easy to focus on the purely technical elements of accessible website design and building, it’s also crucial to remember the more human side of things.

From testing with people who have a wide range of different needs, to designing content to speak clearly to someone in a moment of deep personal crisis, all make a more accessible and inclusive digital experience.

Looking back on the whole process, the audience research stage was the cornerstone to a successful end product. It allowed us to better understand audience behaviours and help get rid of any of our own assumptions.

Laura Thomas, Christians Against Poverty

Focusing on key user journeys

One of the main goals of the website project has been to increase the reach of the support CAP can deliver to people trying to manage their debt. To achieve this they have made bold choices prioritising those looking for help.

By highlighting the main ways to get help, more people can access CAP’s life changing services. Finding help near to people is one of the main ways to access CAP’s services.

The CAP help pages lead with what people are searching for such as 'I need help with debt' or 'I want to learn budgeting skills to get to grips with my finances'
People can search for help that is located near to them
When successful they see a range of options near to them such as CAP's debt clinics

Using plain English

The entire site is written in language that people actually use, rather than that of the organisation. Throughout the design process content was tested with people with a wide range of accessibility needs.

Moving forward, all articles on the site will use readability checkers to make sure they are as clear and concise as possible.

By writing in the first person, more people related to the page titles and found what they were looking for. Real life advice that helps people with their day-to-day challenges scored highly in testing.
Articles such as 'I'm struggling, where can I get support' or 'Recipes on a budget' provide people with more accessible information
While many of CAP’s services are still based on in-person programmes, many more people are now accessing their information online

Built-in accessibility functions

While making a website accessible involves far more than just specific technical features, there are some that make a big difference to users.

Building in video transcripts and closed captions ensures that anyone can get the full experience of the stories that CAP tell through their video content.

CAP work with any and everyone, to reduce debt. Including built-in translation to the website means anyone is able to access this support, even if English is not their first language.

CAP's website displays Video Transcripts for those that need them against each video
CAP's website has a built in translation tool

It’s really good that you’ve got the translation options – a lot of websites forget about that.

User testing participant

Ways to support that fit people’s lives

The site makes it easier than ever for people to donate time, money or other support to CAP’s cause.

Once they become a supporter it’s easier than ever for people to manage their own details, change their donation amount or update their Gift Aid details.

Whether giving one-off donations or regular gifts, CAP’s supporters can manage their relationship with the charity in the way that suits them.
The CAP donate form gives a range of ways for people to support the charity - at each level showing how their gift helps

Accessible colours

CAP’s green colour did not meet WCAG guidelines for text contrast with white. We worked with CAP to flex the brand palette and create a slightly modified green for this project, that contrasts at 3.2:1 with white and 3:1 with warm grey.

Achieving 3:1 contrast against the light colours in the palette meant we were able to use this new green for:

  • text that is 24px or larger
  • bold text that is 19px or larger
  • essential graphics and user interface components
A wide range of colour combinations were tested to determine which were easiest to read for people