MS International Federation

A globally accessible site for World MS Day

Image of homepage of Word MS Day website

Project overview

We helped the MS International Federation (MSIF)the only global network of MS organisations, people affected by MS, volunteers and staff from around the world – to create a brand new global website, separate from their main website, for World MS Day 2020.

This new website spans three years, from 2020-2022, during which period the campaign around the theme of ‘connections’ now reaches the Foundation’s global audience in an engaging and, crucially for this organisation, accessible way.

Features

  • Accessible site design
  • Cleaner, faster site (on the homepage alone we reduced CO2 per page view by 77%)
  • WPML integration for 5 languages including Arabic
  • Multi-language newsletter integration with GetResponse

0.24g

C02 per page view – ↓ by 77%

97%

Lighthouse Accessibility score ↑

1.6s

Page load time – ↓ by 54%

We needed an agency to help us create an accessible and appealing site for our supporters. Wholegrain Digital took the time to understand our mission and campaign.The team managed the project with great diligence and professionalism. We felt supported at every stage of the process.

Sarah Dobson, Senior Communications and Campaigns Officer
Image showing two different pages of the World MS Day site, one on a tablet and one on mobile

Accessible site design

The initial discovery session we held with the MSIF team allowed us to look in detail at all the audiences who would be using the website. The main user base included people affected by MS, including those indirectly affected such as family members and carers and those working for MS organisations across the world. In addition, the website also needed to appeal to the media, various healthcare professionals and the general public.

As more than half of those who would be using the site are directly affected by MS, accessibility was crucial.

Cleaner, faster site

One of the ways we made sure the site is more accessible, was to ensure that we stayed with a clean design, which as well as making the site faster and therefore more accessible to a wider range of users, also makes it much lighter. We reduced the C02 emissions on the homepage alone by 77%.

Image showing the MS Connections campaign toolkit page

Global reach

To ensure all users across the world would be able to engage with the ‘connections’ campaign, we needed to make sure the content would be available in as many local languages as possible. To this end, we added WPML integration for 5 languages, including Arabic, and multi-language newsletter integration with GetResponse.

Image showing the World MS Day interactive map page

Once launched, the new site quickly achieved global engagement for World MS Day, with people visiting the site to add activities, stories, resources and media coverage near them. Check out the highlights from the first successful campaign to see how people got involved.

It has been a joy working with Wholegrain Digital on the new World MS Day website. Despite our tight timeframe,Wholegrain Digital delivered a stylish, user-friendly site for our supporters. Together, we were able to create an accessible visual ID that elevated our brand.

Sarah Dobson