The National Disability Data Asset (NDDA) is a national initiative that brings together disability data from across governments to improve outcomes for people with disability. The NDDA team needed a new website to make this data and information easier to find, understand and use. The existing WordPress site had limited functionality and flexibility and needed to be relocated to more secure hosting. Migrating to Drupal GovCMS gave us an opportunity to restructure the content, improve usability and create a site that was accessible, intuitive and built to last.
Designing for accessibility starts with listening. People with lived experience know best what barriers exist – and what works. We began the project with research and testing involving people with disability, carers, researchers and service providers. Through user research activities like tree testing and interviews, we uncovered how different users searched for and interacted with the site. These insights directly shaped the new information architecture and content strategy – making the site simpler, clearer and easier to navigate for everyone.
Jude partnered with Kirra Services to lead the end-to-end website redevelopment incollaboration with the NDDA team. Together, we ran discovery workshops, planned and conducted research, restructured the information architecture (IA), and created content that was easier to read and understand. We also transitioned into Drupal GovCMS, ensuring the build met accessibility standards and design best practices.
The UI and UX design of the new NDDA website was centred around simplicity, accessibility, and alignment with government standards. We used CivicTheme to ensure consistency with other federal websites and enhanced the theme to support NDDA users.
The design incorporated a new NDDA brand and colour palette, giving the site a refreshed and distinct identity within the broader DSS ecosystem. Every interface element was crafted with clarity and inclusivity in mind. This meant focusing on intuitive navigation, clear content hierarchy, and accessible interactions for users with varying needs and abilities.
The new NDDA website makes it easier for all users — from researchers and policy makers to people living with a disability — to access the data they need, in a way that works for them.
Clearer structure, simpler language and accessible formats like Easy Read and Auslan all support the NDDA’s purpose: helping people understand how data can improve outcomes for people with disability.
Built on a secure, reliable GovCMS platform, the site gives DSS a strong foundation for the future — one that supports ongoing growth, transparency and trust in how Australia uses disability data.
As part of the site rebuild, we migrated content from the legacy WordPress site into the new Drupal GovCMS platform. This process involved a combination of automated migration scripts to streamline bulk transfers and manual refinement to ensure accuracy, consistency, and alignment with the new content structure.
Working closely with the NDDA team, we audited, reorganised and restructured key content to fit the updated information architecture — improving clarity, accessibility and usability in the process."
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