As a start-up outdoor education non-profit, Global Explorers has rapidly evolving goals and must respond to new opportunities quickly and clearly. Their leadership has smartly chosen projects that differentiate their organization in some remarkable ways. Working with middle and high school students requires designing with accessibility and simplicity at the heart of everything.
non-profit Global Explorers
Visually engaging front-end
The home page guides three distinct audiences—teachers, students and parents—towards information specific to their demographic. To work towards this goal, we’ve layered navigation strategically to make finding key information quicker and easier. The typography is carefully constructed for consistency and ease in reading.
Leading the Way
In June of 2006, a group split between sighted and blind students traveled to trek through Peru to the lost Incan city, Machu Picchu. This trip was led by renowned blind athlete Eric Weihenmayer. To make the most of the national media attention drawn to this story, we developed a live scrapbook tool for students to post journal entries, photos and videos. A technician equipped with a satellite data phone loaded content to the site throughout the trip. This site also demanded a broadly accessible design for screen readers, low-vision visitors and slow, dialup/satellite connections.
Connect: A group communication suite
With dozens of groups of students and teachers planning complicated trips to every corner of the world, information management and communication are paramount to providing a smooth, positive experience to all involved. We’ve developed a secure system for students and teachers to self-register into groups on the site, where they can view/update flight itineraries, discuss fundraising plans, post homework assignments, share photos, download invoices and collect information relevant to their exact goals. Again, this required developing an easy-to-use input interface for middle and high school students.