Case Study - Learning Through Action

Learning Through Action is a charity that works with over 27,000 children and young people a year, addressing personal issues such as bullying, sex and relationships, drugs and alcohol misuse. Their approach is through interactive workshops in which participants can express themselves freely and explore issues through active participation, discussion and role playing.

In 2006 Learning Through Action (LTA) commissioned an accessibility audit of their website to ensure they complied with DDA regulations: this audit highlighted some issues. The website was generally rather hard to use, and lacked effective graphics. Committed to addressing the accessibility issues and wishing to improve the look and usefulness of the website, LTA approached iT4Communities to help them find a volunteer.

The volunteer opportunity was seen by Ian Cooper (Chartered IT Professional (CITP)), who is a volunteer registered with iT4C. Ian was looking for an opportunity to develop his non-technical skills, and approached his local Volunteer Centre in Basingstoke. They introduced him to a School Governor role, which he subsequently pursued. At the same time Ian saw a British Computer Society newsletter introducing him to the iT4Communities volunteering programme.

Midway through the project Ian was informed his technical department was to be outsourced. As part of this process, he was withdrawn from development projects. This meant he didn't have to work long hours and travel as often, allowing him to fit the project around a more manageable seven hour day.

The project, highlights and lessons learnt

In October 2006 Ian had an initial meeting with LTA to establish what they needed, he then put together an initial structure for the site and began the dialogue and iterative process between himself and his main contact with the organisation. As with most projects the first stage took a little while but once the main structure had been decided, Ian had researched the necessary accessibility guidelines and web standards, and the draft website was hosted on his own server then the project began to move more quickly. Ian says the success of the project was due largely to the commitment of the organisation and their willingness to provide content and give sign off at the development stages promptly.

For an organisation who is not used to working on a web development project the amount of involvement from key staff can be daunting but with the results coming together so well and guided by Ian's experience of project management things ran painlessly and smoothly.

Peter Wood Cotterrill, a Director-Trustee and Company Secretary of LTA, who became Ian's key contact on the project, would advise other charities looking to improve or develop a website to "work in partnership with the volunteer, to be available to provide decisions and content at key points". He stressed how important it is for the organisation to have a very clear idea of what they want to communicate through the website and who their real target audience is.

The technical solution

Very early on Ian had decided that he was very enthusiastic about the work of LTA and enjoyed working with their team so he decided that he would take on the long term commitment to be the webmaster for the foreseeable future. It was therefore not necessary to implement a content management system nor train any of the staff how to manage and update the website. This seemed to be a good use of skills and allowed the LTA team to do what they do best and for Ian to provide technical skills that they would otherwise not have in the team.

From website developer to trustee

In mid March 2007, five months after the initial meeting the website was launched and has grown week by week since then, with new features such as video being added, and an "everyclick' search engine to generate some income from the site.

Ian is now a Director-Trustee with the Charity, and as part of his role will be reviewing their printed materials to give them a creative design overview, and is developing graphic designs for promotional campaigns. He continues to work on the website and will be adding new features as appropriate technologies become available, and his skills and experience grow.

The charity's view

Christine Lock, LTA Centre Manager says "we have been so pleased with the new website, it is fantastic and has generated enquires, compliments, donations and most importantly passes the DDA accessibility guidelines which was so important to us."

The volunteer's experience

Ian says "In my job, I had been promoted from user-facing analysis to an application integration technical role, and I missed the personal contact. I had also completed a management course, and was looking for ways to continue developing my non-technical skills. Voluntary work provided ideal opportunities to achieve this.

"As I will soon be leaving a company after 19 years, the project gave me the opportunity to work with new people in a consultancy role again - invaluable experience, as my future career will possibly take this direction.

"I was able to apply my technical and management skills in a new field, and also learn new skills. From the outset I wanted to ensure the site was fully compliant with the latest standards, both to future-proof the site, and to facilitate an easy hand-over if required. By doing so I updated my web development skills, and was able to learn about making websites accessible to all. I also valued the opportunity to make use of my interest, and improve my skills, in graphic design."

Ian's advice to those working on a similar project is to establish efficient communication systems, apply good project management skills, and to host the development website to allow the charity to easily view and approve progress.

The completed website

The following screen shots show how the design of the website has changed since Ian became involved.