Children's Institute revamps its websites

New look: Consultant Bruce Meissner with Charmaine Smith and Anthea Maree, both from the Children's Institute, and Carina Pillay, who were part of the team that redeveloped the institute's website.

The Children's Institute, a leader in child-policy research and advocacy, has revamped its websites to make them more user-friendly and to give them a more professional look.

The institute's new main website was launched in September, and the improvement of its Children Count website, Abantwana Babalulekile, was finished in November.

Charmaine Smith, communications manager at the institute, said the sites were redeveloped in a content management system, which makes it easy for non-technical staff to update them. "It was also an opportunity to re-arrange content to make it easier for users to find what they are looking for, and to give the site a new look and feel.'"

The home page now includes a featured project as well as news sections, and the projects and publications can be searched by themes. The navigation to different sections of the site has also been improved. Smith said the Children Count website, which provides statistics on children, was given a facelift to improve the presentation of child-centred data and related commentary.

That site now includes downloadable fact sheets on 40 indicators on children's living conditions, care arrangements, health status, and access to schools and other services.

An interactive tool enables visitors to download graphical presentations of the data, such as bar graphs, trend graphs, tables and maps. It also includes a new section that tracks indicators on the government's National Strategic Plan on HIV, AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases, as well as a monthly report on the number of children accessing social grants.