Leicestershire County Council's archive department asked us to create a new website for their War Memorials website, which had unfortunately been compromised when hosted by their previous developers. We were pleased to take on this project and build a new secure database from scratch for their requirements. Our fresh designed website also vastly improved the user experience in searching for details about casualties and war memorials across the county.
Project Databases
We used existing data to create a multilevel database to present war memorials and associated casualties. The system enables the site administrator to create and populate new pages for each sub-category, including adding specific details about conflicts, or individual ranks and units. Users can search the records by name or the custom filters to for their own research or family tracing means.
Research Findings
Permission levels have been set up to allow Leicestershire County Council's archive team to allocate database access to external researchers. This ensures that other local historians can add their findings to the system records, whilst still ensuring that LCC can review any content additions.
Website Design
As part of the Leicestershire War Memorials project redesign, we placed a strong emphasis on honouring the stories of the soldiers and the memorials themselves. To reflect this, the website design was intentionally kept simple and understated. We chose Payne's Grey as the primary colour to evoke a respectful tone while ensuring accessibility for all users.
Understanding the needs of our audience, we prioritised readability throughout the site. Larger font sizes were used to enhance clarity and support a more comfortable user experience, especially for those who may have visual impairments.
