Program on the Environment

Environmental issues, especially climate change, are surrounded by controversy and misconceptions especially among the general public. This makes clear and concise environmental communication practices imperative. Good communication can influence people’s behavior, create dialogue, foster understanding and open up dialogue between groups It’s also important to remember that not everything has to be explained in words. The purpose of this study was to improve the accessibility of the UW Sustainability Climate Action plan website. Throughout my internship at UW sustainability, we learned about some major issues with the CAP webpage and implemented some changes to improve accessibility. Our team conducted user testing, and found that users expressed confusion about where to find things and how to use navigation, as well as lack of understanding about the certain titles of web pages. User testing helped us brainstorm ideas on how to make the CAP website more informative, accessible, and appealing. By the end of the 10 weeks, the Climate Action Plan webpage evolved from a text-heavy content filled webpage with somewhat confusing navigation to a more intuitive and visual website.