Avon and Somerset OPCC Website Re-Design  

Task

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Avon and Somerset approached TONIC to support the co-production of an updated website designed to meet the needs of victims of crime in the region. This built on a recommendation TONIC made following a series of prior projects for the OPCC, including a Victims’ Needs Assessment (https://www.tonic.org.uk/as-vna-23), Victims' Voice Project (https://www.tonic.org.uk/as-vv-24), and Review of the Lighthouse Safeguarding Unit (https://www.tonic.org.uk/a-and-s-lighthouse-hub-review), which collectively indicated that a new or refreshed website would better serve victims seeking support.

Our Approach

TONIC facilitated a series of co-production workshops and design testing focus groups with a diverse range of stakeholders, including adult victims, children and young people, an Autism and Learning Disability Advisory Group, and service provider professionals working with victims of crime. Sessions were designed to explore what content and information the website should include, how information should be presented, and how to ensure accessibility for all users. Findings and feedback from participants were collated and relayed to the OPCC and the Force’s IT team to inform the website's redesign. After the website was launched, TONIC led a final testing session with participants. 

Outcome

The testing session identified a range of strengths in the emerging website, including clear sectioning and navigation, a clean and professional aesthetic, and thoughtful language tailored to all, including young people. Participants also surfaced actionable opportunities for further improvement, such as stronger accessibility provisions for non-English speakers, clearer crisis support signposting, more visual and interactive content for younger users, and refinements to phrasing on sensitive pages. These findings provided the OPCC with a detailed, user-informed evidence-base to guide the final website development.