SCONUL Access

The Challenge

SCONUL Access is the national scheme that lets university library users visit and borrow from other member libraries across the UK and Ireland. The previous system was a legacy stack that needed replacing - applications, institutions, libraries, user bands, and years of live data had to move to a modern, stable platform without disrupting a scheme used by students and staff nationwide. Alongside the migration, SCONUL needed a clearer redesign, stronger accessibility for a public-sector education audience, and a partner to host and support the service ongoing.

Our Approach

• Planned and executed a full migration from the legacy system onto a custom platform - institutions, libraries, regions, access bands, and application history - with carefully validated import scripts and zero data issues at go-live.
• Rebuilt the member-facing application journey: user type and home institution selection, eligible library discovery (list and map), and a clear apply flow processed by each home institution library.
• Redesigned the public interface for clarity and trust - modern layout, usable forms, and navigation suited to students, distance learners, and library staff - not a like-for-like clone of the old UI.
• Embedded accessibility as a delivery requirement: semantic structure, keyboard-friendly flows, skip links and focus behaviour, and WCAG-oriented patterns appropriate for a national education service under the Accessibility Regulations.
• Took on managed hosting and ongoing support - staging and production environments, platform upgrades, security hardening, analytics with consent, and iterative improvements as the scheme evolves.

The Outcome

access.sconul.ac.uk runs on a modern, stable custom platform with a successful legacy migration that transferred live scheme data with zero data issues. Students and staff apply through a redesigned, accessibility-conscious interface; home libraries process applications as before, on infrastructure Pendulum hosts and supports. The rebuild established the foundation for later SCONUL work - reporting tools and the knowledge base - on the same dependable platform.

Key Takeaways

• National education schemes cannot afford messy cutovers - migration success is measured in zero data issues and continuity for every institution.
• Redesign and WCAG work belong in the rebuild, not as a polish phase after launch.
• Web foundations plus managed hosting turn a one-off migration into a service the client can rely on year after year.