City of Fredericton and Capital Region

The City of Fredericton, New Brunswick, needed to develop two distinct yet cohesive websites—one for municipal purposes and one for tourism within the Capital Region. As an officially bilingual province, both websites were required to display content, written by City staff in both English and French. In addition, the City prioritized accessibility compliance and a user-friendly experience that would appeal to a diverse audience including residents, businesses, and tourists.

The key challenge was to create a pair of websites that could accommodate a wide range of content, with careful consideration given to accessibility standards, and provide an intuitive, engaging experience for all users, regardless of the language they chose.

Original Websites:

The Corporate (Municipal) site was designed to serve current and prospective residents, businesses, and visitors looking for city services and information. It needed to:

• Support a wide variety of user journeys, from paying bills to discovering City initiatives.
• Organize content clearly for quick access to services.
• Ensure seamless bilingual support and accessibility.

The Capital Region Site had a different focus, emphasizing visual appeal and interactivity. It needed to:

• Highlight the Capital Region's key attractions, festivals, and events with vivid imagery.
• Offer intuitive tools for discovering things to do, places to eat, and where to stay as well as accommodation packages.
• Feature a design distinct from the corporate site, while still aligning with the City’s overall branding.

Upanup developed two fully bilingual websites using Drupal’s robust translation module. This enabled the City of Fredericton’s staff to easily manage content in both French and English, keeping each site up to date with minimal effort.

Corporate Site Highlights:

• Designed with a focus on easier access to City services.
• Features a prominent “I Want To…” quicklink section, making it easy for users to find easily find commonly-searched for pages.
• Current projects page allows residents to see where key developments and construction is happening in the city.
• Built with accessibility best practices in mind to ensure inclusivity for all users.
• Integration with the Amilia program recreation software to create an Activity Search tool.

Capital Region Site Highlights:

• Features a custom, visually rich design tailored to highlight Fredericton Capital Region's culture and attractions.
• Includes a custom-designed calendar of events page to showcase ongoing and upcoming happenings.
• Easy to search directories for dining, activities, and accommodations—encouraging deeper exploration of what the city has to offer.

Together, these websites provide a seamless experience for users in both official languages, encouraging anyone to visit Fredericton and the Capital Region.