This is the second year we have developed an online annual review for The Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR), building on top of the existing, with a new theme and interactive features.

Repeating from last year, this project was a joint effort between JAW Communications, who provided project direction and content, Scott from Twenty20 Graphics who developed the look and feel, and infographics, while Mesuva managed the site overall and covered technical development tasks.

Project highlights

  • Interactive graphs to highlight funding distribution
  • Expanding content areas to allow concise content display, with more detail available
  • Expanding menu for clear site navigation
  • Various page layouts to suit varied content
  • Embedded videos, photo galleries and inforgraphics

This project required that for each year a new annual could be added to the site, whilst retaining previous reports, with each year having their own look and feel.

The power of multiple themes

Thankfully concrete5 is beautifully set up to do just this, as multiple themes can be created for one website. This means we can have multiple themes running, each linking to a different year's Annual Review. Therefore the site can be updated each year to reflect that year’s report, complete with altered visual design, while maintaining the previous reports in the same site.

Creating interactive features

Interactive graphs, maps and images are a main feature of the FRRR Annual Report.  The idea was to engage users in the statistics of the report, to give the numbers more meaning.

Map

The map shows the locations where grants had been used. Clicking on the locations allows users to read a summary of the grant with the option to click through to read the full story.

Number's Graph

The number's graph works as a series of hovers/taps. You roll over the section of the graph you wish to read about and the money distribution pops up. A similar graphic was created on the Natural Disaster Recovery page.

'Isotope' driven gallery

The gallery of images and captions highlights various projects in enlargeable boxes. The page first appears as a series of photos, overlaid with a 'click icon'. When you click on a photo the image enlarges to reveal text detail and the rest of the images on the page rearrange.

Static infographics

For most infographics we used vector graphics in SVG format so that the graphics would be sharp on high pixel density screens. We utilised a previously built custom block to place SVGs, allowing a fallback image for older browsers.

Why we think creating an annual review as an online resource is a great solution

A project such as this one highlights many benefits to creating an organisation's annual review in an online format:

  • Using a powerful CMS such as concrete5, multiple users can be logged in and working on various sections of the report, placing and reviewing content, from geographically anywhere.
  • Critically, small updates and corrections can be made to such a CMS driven resource after it has been released - a clear advantage over traditional print versions of annual reviews
  • They are widely accessible. Anyone on the web can search for and find online annual reviews. 
  • Using multiple themes, all reports can be found in the same web location, but through design changes they can display an individual look and feel
  • Interactive features can be incorporated - information can be presented through interactive graphics, such as maps, graphs and images. Users can read more or less by clicking in places across the website.
  • Resources such as printable documents, audio files and videos can all be placed on such a resource. It can be a truly multimedia experience, providing more opportunity to better showcase the organisation or company.

View FRRR's 2013 annual review online.