Cancerbackup provides information and support services for cancer patients and their families. Their website offers over 4,500 pages of up-to-date information and practical advice abouut cancer.

The issue

Cancerbackup's site was getting more than 6,000 visits per day, and complied with many NHS information quality and technical standards. But the lack of consistent structure made it difficult to navigate through the site, and the use of frames meant that certain pages were inaccessible to some users.

The solution

We used Webfactory software to develop a simplified website for Cancerbackup. Consistent navigation means that none of the 4,500 pages of information are now more than three clicks away from the home page.
The content reorganisation was based on extensive research and user testing. Information on each type of cancer now sits in an ‘information centre’ which also includes Q&As, information about clinical trials, links to other websites and support organisations, and information about Cancerbackup publications.
Webfactory makes the site easy to manage and update, and ensures that all new pages automatically conform to accessibility guidelines. The system also provides advanced statistics reporting.

The result

Cancerbackup's site provides high-quality information that is clear, authoritative and, most importantly, up-to-date. The site has been extensively user-tested and is among the first to achieve NHS Exemplary Information Partner status: a category for organisations meeting the highest standards in terms of information quality and accessibility. This means the site will be given a prominent place on the NHS Direct Online website and be indexed by the NHS Direct Online search engine.

"Many people turn to our website, so we wanted to make it easy for them to get hold of relevant information. We spent a lot of time working on the new site and getting feedback from users to ensure that it meets their needs. User trials of the new site have been very positive."

- Lucy Ashman, website editor at Cancerbackup

Highlights:

• Clear navigation puts 4,500 pages of information within three clicks
• NHS Exemplary Information PartnerAutomatic cross-referencing on factsheets, FAQs and most popular topics
• Advanced statistics reporting
• Highly commended at the 2004 BMA Awards for their online Patient Information Guide
• Winner of the Patients Association Award for Best Patient Website 2006
  

http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk