Academic Libraries North
Website redesign and content migration for the northern HE library consortium - accessible modern UI for staff development, activities, conference, and member resources.
The Challenge
Academic Libraries North (ALN) is a consortium of 33 higher education libraries in the north of England. Their website and content store - staff development programmes, activities, conference, resources, EDI, and member information - needed redesign and migration to a modern, accessible platform. Members and visitors had to reach the right events and resources quickly; the previous site and content structures made that harder than it needed to be.
Our Approach
- Migrated website and database content onto a modern WordPress platform using Pendulum's theme framework - mapping programmes, events, conference material, resources, and member-facing pages into a clearer content model.
- Redesigned the public experience around ALN's core jobs: discover staff development, follow activities, find conference information, and access member resources without friction.
- Delivered a contemporary UI with strong visual hierarchy, responsive layouts, and editorial patterns that keep a large consortium site maintainable as the programme calendar turns over.
- Built accessibility into the redesign - focus-friendly navigation, semantic templates, and WCAG-oriented patterns appropriate for a UK higher-education membership audience.
- Structured archives and listings so events, conference years, and resources stay browsable as ALN publishes new cycles of activity.
The Outcome
academiclibrariesnorth.ac.uk presents ALN as a clear, modern consortium site - with migrated content, easier navigation for staff development and conference programmes, and an accessible UI suited to 33 member libraries. Editors can maintain the content store without wrestling with legacy structures, and members get to the right activity or resource faster.
Key Takeaways
- Consortium sites succeed when programmes and resources are the primary navigation story.
- Migrating a membership content store means redesigning the content model - not only the skin.
- For UK HE library networks, accessibility compliance and modern UX are the same delivery, not competing priorities.
Interested in working together?