High-traffic platform
A next-gen website for public utility services
Sac Sewer provides essential wastewater services for the Sacramento area, focusing on collection and treatment. Exemplifi redesigned their website, improving content access, streamlining processes, and ensuring accessibility for enhanced public utility engagement.
Project overview
Exemplifi was selected to redesign, develop, and maintain the Sacramento Area Sewer District (Sac Sewer) website using Drupal, ensuring a scalable and future-proof platform.
The redesigned website needed to:
Communicate how Sac Sewer handles wastewater collection, treatment, and resource recovery.
Reinforce the utility’s brand and ensure content accessibility for all users.
Seamlessly migrate content from Regional San’s website without disrupting access to critical information.
Challenges
Seamlessly transferring Regional San’s content to the new Sac Sewer platform while preserving integrity and accessibility.
Overhauling the outdated Drupal 6 framework to improve user experience, security, and performance.
Ensuring uninterrupted access to critical information during migration, especially for public services, emergency updates, and stakeholder communications.
Implementing a seamless translation tool to ensure all residents, regardless of language, could access important information.
Key improvements
Sac Sewer now has a modern, efficient, and accessible website enhancing public service delivery.
Implemented real-time service lookup tools, streamlined bid management, and multilingual support.
Ensured seamless access to critical information for all users.
Reinforced Sac Sewer’s commitment to digital transformation, providing a future-ready, user-centric experience.
Discovery
Exemplifi began with a thorough discovery phase, focusing on SacSewer’s existing digital presence. We analyzed the current website architecture and content management system, identifying gaps in accessibility and outdated workflows. This phase helped us understand the utility's communication goals and brand enhancement needs, shaping the overall strategy.
Define
In the define phase, we outlined the project’s core objectives, emphasizing improved user experience and content management. Our focus was on accessibility, ensuring compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA standards. We also defined a seamless migration strategy from Regional San's website, ensuring uninterrupted access to critical public services and information.
Design
Exemplifi upgraded SacSewer’s website from Drupal 6 to the latest version, improving scalability, performance, and content management. We enhanced accessibility with better navigation, interactive features, and real-time service lookup. A microsite for the annual report was created with animations and visual elements, complementing the main site without impacting performance. A robust WebOps infrastructure was established to ensure long-term success, security, and easy future updates.
Project impact
Explore
A few unique solutions that we designed for this client
We developed a real-time GIS Customer Lookup Tool using Sac Sewer’s API, built with jQueryUI and AJAX to ensure fast and dynamic service verification. The tool features autocomplete and reset functions, allowing users to perform quick and accurate searches, enhancing the overall user experience and efficiency of accessing service-related information.
We created a dynamic bid postings tool with dropdown filtering for easy access. An archive function was integrated to allow effortless retrieval of past bid information, ensuring transparency and efficiency for contractors and stakeholders.
We embedded the Google Translate API for seamless, real-time language translation, supporting over 100 languages to enhance accessibility and inclusivity. The translation function ensures zero latency, maintaining a user-friendly and responsive platform.
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