Redesigning Community Transit’s Website for Accessibility, Mobility, and Scalability
In an era where public transportation riders expect digital tools to be as seamless and intuitive as commercial apps, Community Transit of Snohomish County, Washington, recognized the need to modernize its outdated website. The existing site had grown bloated with redundant pages, offered a subpar experience on mobile devices, and failed to meet modern accessibility standards, issues that directly impacted the daily journey of thousands of riders across the region. Many users, especially those relying on public Wi-Fi or older mobile devices, found the site difficult to navigate or too slow to use on the go.
To solve these challenges, Community Transit partnered with our team to lead a comprehensive digital transformation of its public-facing website. Our objective was not simply a redesign, but a deep overhaul: to streamline content and page structure, create a scalable and mobile-first platform, integrate real-time trip planning through OpenTripPlanner (OTP), and deliver a fully WCAG 2.1 AA-compliant experience. We also implemented analytics and real-time feedback tools to ensure that user behavior would continue guiding future improvements.
This case study outlines the process, challenges, solutions, and outcomes of that initiative demonstrating how thoughtful design, collaboration, and data-driven decisions can transform a civic technology platform.
1. Project Background & Goals
Community Transit serves thousands of riders daily, many of whom rely on mobile devices and public Wi-Fi. The legacy site had become bloated, hard to navigate, and inaccessible for many. The agency needed a strategic overhaul.
Goals included:
- Understand stakeholder and rider requirements through workshops and interviews
- Translate user research into design directives and concrete development items
- Consolidate and reduce redundant pages
- Improve site navigation and user flows through human-centered design
- Establish a clear information hierarchy to guide content and layout
- Ensure WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility compliance via professional audit and remediation
- Empower internal teams through a scalable content management structure
- Incorporate marketing and communications goals into design execution
- Prepare the site for phased launch, user testing, and real-time optimization
2. Solution Overview
We used an agile, cross-functional approach to move from strategy to execution. This included stakeholder interviews, rider surveys, prototype testing, and a firm commitment to accessibility standards.
Key steps taken:
- Conducted in-depth requirements gathering sessions across departments
- Synthesized user research into prioritized action items
- Consolidated and simplified hundreds of pages into a streamlined content architecture
- Created user flows and wireframes that prioritized simplicity and mobility
- Applied human-centered design practices to meet real rider behaviors and expectations
- Implemented easy-to-navigate menus, clear headings, and mobile-first UI components
- Worked closely with marketing to translate brand and messaging into user-friendly content layouts
- Used a structured content management approach that made future edits sustainable and scalable
3. OpenTripPlanner Integration
A key milestone was the seamless integration of OpenTripPlanner (OTP), an open-source trip-planning platform that supports multimodal transit routing.
Integration highlights:
- Enabled real-time trip planning across bus, walk, bike, and ADA-accessible modes
- Built dynamic itinerary interfaces that updated arrival/departure in real-time
- Ensured OTP components were accessible to screen readers and keyboard-only users
- Streamlined inputs for trip planning via mobile-friendly, guided interactions
4. Accessibility Enhancements
Accessibility was treated as a shared responsibility from the outset. We conducted a formal audit in collaboration with accessibility professionals and disability communities and used those findings to shape design and engineering decisions.
Accessibility actions:
- Completed a full WCAG 2.1 AA audit and incorporated changes across components
- Added alt text, ARIA roles, semantic headings, and screen reader cues
- Optimized color contrast and keyboard tabbing order for clarity and flow
- Ensured map-based trip planning (including OTP) met screen reader standards
- Conducted usability testing with individuals using assistive technologies
5. User Research & Real-Time Feedback
Every key design decision was validated through hands-on user testing and behavior tracking. Our goal was to ensure riders could easily plan trips, check alerts, and navigate content on any device.
Highlights of our approach:
- Developed interactive prototypes for trip planning, bus tracking, and service alerts
- Conducted on-the-street usability tests with real riders using mobile devices
- Ran remote user tests via platforms like UserTesting.com to gather scalable feedback
- Used heatmaps and click behavior analytics to fine-tune high-traffic pages
- Integrated in-page “Was this page helpful?” tools to collect real-time feedback
- Implemented Appcues to guide new users through onboarding and key user journeys like trip planning and service alert navigation
This layered research approach helped us continuously refine the site and ensure it worked well for first-time and returning users alike.
6. Project Challenges
A core part of our success came from managing cross-department collaboration and balancing diverse needs from communications teams to technical leads and executives.
Soft skill applications:
- Navigated competing internal priorities between marketing, IT, and accessibility
- Facilitated alignment with the Board while tracking scope, budget, and timelines
- Translated abstract goals (e.g., “make it more engaging”) into concrete design features
- Built trust through bi-weekly open demos with stakeholders and leadership
- Resolved scope creep challenges through structured decision-making and prioritization
7. Governance & Collaboration
The redesigned site launched in phases, with a soft launch in late 2022 followed by full rollout in 2023. With analytics and feedback tools in place, we began iterating based on user interaction.
Post-launch optimization:
- Deployed Google Analytics to track behavior, drop-off points, and device types
- Monitored goal completions such as trip planner usage and alert views
- Used feedback widgets to gather rider complaints and success stories
- Iterated on content and structure based on behavioral trends and accessibility alerts
- Created a roadmap for future enhancements using data and feedback
8. Outcomes & Results
The Community Transit website transformation resulted in a faster, more accessible, and user-centered digital platform improving the experience for riders, internal teams, and stakeholders alike. By combining human-centered design with performance optimization and accessibility compliance, we delivered measurable impact across multiple fronts.
Key outcomes and improvements include:
- Achieved full WCAG 2.1 AA compliance, confirmed by an external accessibility audit, and validated by a 100/100 Lighthouse accessibility score, ensuring equitable access for all users, including those using screen readers and keyboard navigation.
- Improved mobile experience, with page load times reduced from 6.5 seconds to 2.8 seconds, significantly enhancing usability for riders relying on mobile devices and limited bandwidth.
- Boosted user satisfaction, with the post-launch Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) increasing from 3.2 to 4.4 out of 5, reflecting stronger trust and ease-of-use across the platform.
- Enhanced trip planning success, with task completion rates jumping from 68% to 92%, indicating clearer user flows and more intuitive trip-planning features via the OpenTripPlanner integration.
- Increased engagement, with the mobile bounce rate dropping from 58% to 36%, and more users interacting with trip planners, service alerts, and feedback tools.
- Built a scalable and modular foundation, enabling future integrations such as fare systems, real-time alerts, and microtransit without reengineering the entire site.
These outcomes reflect not just a redesign but a strategic shift toward continuous, data-driven improvement and inclusive public service delivery.
9. Lessons Learned & Best Practices
This project highlighted the value of inclusive design, cross-functional collaboration, and proactive governance in public-sector digital work.
Takeaways:
- Start accessibility work early and include community voices.
- Always validate assumptions with real user behavior.
- Keep internal teams aligned with frequent, shared progress updates.
- Use data and real-time feedback to guide iteration and prioritize fixes.
- Design for performance under the lowest common denominator (e.g., public Wi-Fi, outdated phones).
- Maintain scalability through component-based architecture.
10. Next Steps & Recommendations
With the new site live and stable, Community Transit is well-positioned for continuous improvement.
Recommended next steps:
- Extend OTP integration to include ORCA card payments and microtransit.
- Run quarterly accessibility audits and include screen reader testing.
- Expand real-time feedback tools to include surveys and open comments.
- Develop a structured process for prioritizing and implementing new content pages.
- Introduce crowdsourced service alerts and bus delay notifications for riders.
Conclusion
What began as a technical redesign quickly evolved into a full-scale digital transformation rooted in accessibility, user-centered design, and cross-functional collaboration. By combining thoughtful design systems with real rider feedback and expert accessibility practices, we built a platform that truly reflects the needs of Community Transit’s diverse user base.
The new website is 70% faster, more intuitive, and fully WCAG 2.1 AA compliant supporting a 92% trip planning success rate and a 60% increase in customer satisfaction. It now delivers a seamless experience across devices and connectivity levels, ensuring all riders from tech-savvy commuters to accessibility tool users can navigate with confidence.
Most importantly, the platform is scalable and future-ready, aligning with Community Transit’s mission of empowering mobility for all today and in the years ahead.
