Virginia Navigator
Connecting Virginia’s older adults, people with disabilities, veterans, and their caregivers to services they need.
This project won a W3 Award:
Silver
General Websites: Nonprofit
Client Overview
Using technology and robust community partnerships, VirginiaNavigator provides information on resources to help meet the complex needs of older adults, people with disabilities, veterans, and their families and caregivers.
Their different websites educate and empower visitors via an accessible and comprehensive one-stop resource with a curated resource directory and educational information around a host of topics, including health care services, housing options, benefits assistance, transportation, legal and financial matters, caregiver support, and more.
VirginiaNavigator also maintains a vast network of Navigator Centers located in every city and county across Virginia, ensuring they reach as many Virginians as possible.
Services provided
Virginia Navigator Mobile Gallery
The challenge
VirginiaNavigator wanted to refresh their site with a modern design and upgraded technology.
The previous design was uninspiring with a lackluster user experience that could be confusing when switching between the sites. There needed to be an easier and more visual way to differentiate between the types of services while also making it all cohesive within the main VirginiaNavigator brand.
Additionally, with information being pulled from many different agencies in Virginia, the database was hard to manage for back-end administrators.
Lastly, the previous site was built on Drupal 7, which was an outdated and unsupported version of Drupal. It was time to upgrade to the latest version to take advantage of its more robust capabilities.
The solution
As an outside partner was creating the design, we worked closely with them to understand the scope of the build so we could move seamlessly into technical planning. This included writing user stories, creating site maps, migration documents, and more.
Because the main purpose for their site is for users to find services, the most attention needed to be paid to the search capabilities. As so many different services were being consolidated onto one marketplace, we implemented Solr to take advantage of its powerful full-text search capabilities, scalability, flexible querying options, real-time indexing, and robust faceting features.
The fortifications continued with the implementation of Domain Access to consolidate all their existing sites into a one-stop shop using the same code base. This makes it easier to manage multiple domains, with one log-in taking care of everything.
We also enhanced the provider portal, which allows admins to manage and edit their own listings with proper permissions and roles; once admins make edits, VirginiaNavigator can review. This empowers each agency to manage their own info rather than Virginia Navigator doing it manually.
Key features
Domain Access
Five different sites — the main site, VeteransNavigator, SeniorNavigator, disAbilityNavigator, and Lindsey Institute — are now managed using Domain Access. This allows the back end to be compiled in one database for easier management.
Solr Search
Using Solr, we made the search capabilities more keyword-focused, allowing for further drilling down for more targeted results. Users can also boost specific fields based on the keyword results to help reduce redundancies. The search also now includes a Google Maps API.
Map Functionality
Separate from the search functionality, we added “Find a navigator center near you” so Virginians could locate physical centers with internet access and staff, allowing users to talk to someone in person.
The result
After the upgrade to the design interface as well as the upgrade to Drupal 10, VirginiaNavigator now has a fast and performant site that works beautifully for its users.
This site also won a W3 Award for Nonprofits.
