Andrew Ford Lyons

Recourse is the new website for the College & University Support Network to replace the one that had been at cusn.info. The project was more than a website redesign, it was also an endeavor in rebranding the charity which serves post-16 education (adult, further and higher education) professionals in UK. Recourse replaced CUSN as the name of the charity this weekend as it was launched at the University and College Union Congress in Manchester on Monday.

I worked with with Mymedia on branding and design as well as Connect Assist in incorporating the Rightnow CRM used to provide support services to higher education staff and faculty.

The backdrop to the relaunch is an education sector in crisis. Unprecedented funding cuts have led to job losses, increased workloads, financial worries and the complex stresses associated with working within an atmosphere of insecurity. The charity is dedicated to providing financial, emotional and practical support to higher education staff and is part of the Teacher Support Network group of charities.

Recourse.org.uk offers:

• Practical financial support including the awarding of grants to staff in financial trouble and expert practical advice from trained advisers

• Free confidential 24/7 Support Line staffed by experienced professional counsellors around the clock, every day of the year – 0808 802 03 04

• Online Support from an experienced coach with a wealth of experience in the education sector

• Online self assessment tools to help users focus on areas in their home and work life they may want to improve

The website was built on Wordpress CMS, using a unique theme that has W3C-valid CSS and XHTML, based on the rebranding concepts and html site mock-ups from Mymedia. The css and html templates were then ported into the Righnow CRM to create a seamless user experience across the different domain names.

Recourse is an attempt to raise awareness about the services the charity provides. The new website replaces one built four years ago as a simple blog on a Drupal platform. The new site adds accessibility functionality as well as a more vibrant, color scheme and a front page that keeps more services at the top of the page. The bond with UCU was also more prominently displayed.

In the design I pushed for a more colorful theme and a modular format. The charity is fast changing and reacting to what’s happening in the profession. A modular style better allows for quick addition of elements without throwing off the overall design of the site. In the design as well are more embedded visuals. This is because a lot of the content Recourse (and CUSN previously) includes doesn’t naturally lend itself to post images, and so the challenge was to keep the website visually appealing.

Tags: Connect Assist, CUSN, Mymedia, Recourse, Rightnow, Wordpress