Wellington County

Modern, accessible websites for Ontario County

Wellington County is a center for rural festivities and natural beauty. Named one of the safest, most beautiful places and best employers in Canada, Wellington County makes a popular destination for residents and tourists alike. With over 90,000 residents and millions of website visitors every year, Wellington County needed a sleek and user-oriented website redesign to deliver resources for its diverse population.

Visit Wellington.ca

Services Provided

  • Accessible Design
  • Custom Solutions
  • User-focused Design
  • User-friendly CMS

The Challenge

Upanup took on the challenge of developing three new websites for Wellington County: the main municipal corporate site, library site and museum & archives site. Each site needed an accessibility and usability update, requiring an experienced and capable team. Upanup made sure the sites were intuitive, easy to navigate and reflected a strong sense of community.
The main County site had a mandate to meet accessibility standards and needed to highlight available services, notices and events in a meaningful and engaging way. It also had to provide easy access for residents and users to register for updates and information about county programs. The library site required a searchable smart database and information on library resources such as borrowing books or renting a meeting room. Finally, the museum & archives site needed to be a user-friendly platform that visitors could use to plan their visit and learn about the county's rich heritage.
One of the challenges Upanup had to overcome was recreating the County's previous online form tool used for over 300 forms, surveys, and applications across all three sites. The form tool needed to integrate eCommerce for residents to make payments for government services and permits, as well as allow users to answer forms more accurately.
Wellington County Castle
Two white people in hats, in kayaks on the water, with mountains in the background

The Solution

Upanup created an intuitive user interface for all three sites to connect people with the resources they need. On the main site, the homepage highlights featured services and other notices, naturally letting the user access important information. An easy search button and simple menu help the user find any other resource in seconds, while the minimalistic theme makes navigating the sites a breeze. 

Upanup built the main corporate website and library and museum websites with a variety of accessible considerations and modern features. The following tools were integrated onto their websites:

  • A Single Sign-On (SSO) tool that allows the user to sign in to multiple applications with one account across all three websites, greatly improving efficiency for staff.  
  • An email subscription tool that allows users to tailor their emails to news they want to hear about. 
  • A region map of Wellington County on the bottom of the main site homepage that converts community names to letters on mobile devices for accessibility.
Screenshot of Wellington County's Email Subscription Tool
Screenshot of Wellington County's region map

Additionally, Upanup delivered a cutting-edge tool to improve the County's eCommerce and survey online forms. The online forms include features such as:

  • Debit and Credit Processing: Integrated with Moneris software for secure transactions.
  • Automatically Generated Receipts: Provides users with immediate confirmations.
  • New Question and Answer Formats: Features such as tables, address fields, and an "other - please specify" option for more accurate submissions.

This customizable webform tool can be used by the County to create any kind of survey, application, or online form in the future. 

The Results

Wellington County's new websites launched in June 2024, just in time for summer - a busy time in the area with many cultural festivals in July and August.

All three websites have been met with positive feedback from County staff and the public. The main corporate site is a unique and effective website built with accessible tools to improve community engagement, help spread information, and connect with visitors. The library site offers community bonding and resources while the museum site gives visitors a glimpse into the lives of the county's past inhabitants.

Wellington County's three website redesigns welcome you to the beautiful community and invite you to stay to discover the adventures it has to offer.

Wellington County website homepage screenshot of top half
Screenshots of Wellington's Library and Museum on mobile display

Related Work

Are you curious to see more projects like this one? We’ve selected a couple relatable case studies which you can find below.