I've been consistently impressed with the responsiveness of your team whenever an issue arises. I also appreciate the flexibility and willingness to adapt as my project scope expanded into the nitty-gritty details.
Becky Roberts, Associate Director
Visit: www.scottarboretum.org
The Scott Arboretum & Gardens is a vibrant 300+ acre campus showcasing over 4,000 ornamental plant species and dedicated to public horticulture education.
As an integral part of Swarthmore College, the Arboretum’s digital footprint was intrinsically linked to the college’s broader online ecosystem.
The primary catalyst for this website overhaul was a large rebranding effort initiated by Swarthmore College.
The Arboretum’s website needed to integrate the college’s new brand guidelines, including updated visual elements, tone, and overarching digital philosophy.
Beyond the college’s rebranding, the Arboretum’s existing website presented several specific challenges:
To tackle these many challenges and give The Scott Arboretum a fresh online presence, we took a careful, multi-pronged approach to the website redesign and content migration.
We knew it was essential to align with Swarthmore College’s new brand while preserving the Arboretum’s unique identity.
Here’s what we did:
We used automation tools to efficiently move large amounts of existing content, especially for frequently updated sections like the blog and calendar.
This saved a lot of manual effort and ensured a smooth, accurate transfer of historical information.
For crucial and highly visited pages, like detailed garden descriptions and essential visitor info, we chose a meticulous manual migration.
This allowed us to implement the new design, integrate an improved content structure, and strategically use new “page blocks.” These were page components we set up to clearly present content in a consistent way and that could be used easily to piece together pages.
The redesign brought in Swarthmore College’s new brand guidelines, ensuring a consistent and modern look.
Accessibility was a core focus from the start. Our development process strictly follows WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards.
This meant building in accessible design patterns, using semantic HTML, ensuring keyboard navigation, proper color contrast, and solid error handling.
This made sure the website would work fully for individuals with diverse abilities and those using assistive technologies. This commitment not only met Swarthmore College’s high standards but also significantly broadened the Arboretum’s digital reach.
The successful relaunch of The Scott Arboretum website has brought significant positive impacts, strengthening its digital presence and aligning it with Swarthmore College’s updated brand.
The results of the updates include:
The new Scott Arboretum website is a robust and flexible platform, ready for future content additions and new interactive features.
By looking at how people use the site, the Arboretum can continue to make it even better, strengthening its role as a vital educational and cultural resource for everyone.