Reimagining digital presence with an accessible Drupal platform

Evolving Web partnered with Université de Saint-Boniface (USB), the only francophone university in Western Canada, to update their website, enhancing user experience and accessibility while preserving the university’s human-centric brand identity. The project aimed to reflect USB’s dynamic campus life and personalized services, consistent with their value proposition of being a “university with a human touch.” Evolving Web developed and designed their new Drupal website, and provided the staff with content management training and guidance to set the small team up for independent success.

The university's new site is set to launch in early Fall 2026.

The Université de Saint-Boniface (USB) is the oldest post-secondary institution in Western Canada, proudly serving as the only French-language university in Manitoba. Located in the heart of Winnipeg's vibrant francophone district, USB is a cornerstone of French-language education in the region. The university not only provides higher education through its undergraduate and graduate programs but also houses two collegiate schools: the École technique et professionnelle (ETP), which focuses on technical and professional training, and the École des sciences infirmières et des études de la santé (ESIES), dedicated to nursing and health studies, as well as a department of continuing studies. This unique combination of academic and professional training makes USB a central hub for francophone education and community engagement in Manitoba.

The primary goal of the project was to transform a unique, francophone university’s digital presence into a modern, user-friendly, and accessible website that effectively conveys its vibrant community-focused brand. The platform needed to be engaging, convey the institution’s warmth and dynamic campus life, while providing an accessible experience in line with WCAG AA standards and the Accessibility for Manitobans Act.

Based on an extensive 360 discovery process, the key objectives included enhancing the information architecture to improve content discoverability and navigation, developing flexible and consistent page-building tools for the small content management team. The project was to deliver a seamless migration from the outdated Blackbaud CMS to a powerful Drupal-based platform hosted on Pantheon. Finally, Evolving Web aimed to empower the university’s staff with the necessary training and resources for efficient, independent content management post-launch.

The modern digital platform for the Université de Saint Boniface needed to promote the identity of the only francophone university in Manitoba and convey its values to diverse audiences of stakeholders. During the discovery phase, the team found that the client’s brand identity was not suited to a digital environment: many gradients and low colour contrast were causing accessibility issues. Overcoming digital accessibility challenges was essential for conveying and delivering on the university’s commitment of meaningful access for all users.

By incorporating yellow highlights, fluid layouts, and more controlled gradients, we adapted the USB branding for the digital environment, focusing on accessibility with web-suitable tints of their brand colours. This approach, along with strategic text overlaps on images and a strategic use of branding elements, mitigated previous accessibility issues caused by low-contrast colors and gradients.

The main project deliverables included: 

• Comprehensive discovery phase using a 360-degree analysis, ensuring a user-centered approach with qualitative methods: two student and stakeholder questionnaires, and multiple focus groups, including three based on accessibility and a user journey mapping workshop 
• Updating the information architecture with logical grouping and intuitive navigation
• Elevating visual identity adapted to a digital environment, incorporating more accessible colors and a vibrant, community-focused design that is compatible with the latest version of Drupal
• Aligning the website's design with USB’s brand values, emphasizing warmth, vibrancy, and the dynamic student life
• Ensuring compliance with Manitoba accessibility standards and the Accessibility for Manitobans Act to provide a more inclusive experience for all users
• Developing a new Drupal-based website to replace the retiring Blackboard CMS, leveraging Pantheon’s hosting and performance optimizations
• Ensuring full compliance with accessibility standards (WCAG AA), helping the university leverage a grant from the Manitoba Accessibility Fund to remove barriers in information delivery
• Implementing SDC Display to allow content managers to combine components and create different views flexibly without requiring developer intervention
• Building structured content pages (Programs page, News and Events page, and more) using Layout Builder and Paragraphs, enabling a balance between flexibility and consistency in page design
• Integrating a JavaScript-based approach to dynamically hide past events from the homepage carousel, ensuring an automated, user-friendly solution for event management
• Developing a custom solution for homepage animation, dynamically scaling and adjusting video assets to maintain a responsive design across all devices
• Enabling CKEditor text highlighting for page titles, allowing content editors to easily apply stylistic emphasis without requiring custom HTML or developer intervention
• Improving site navigation with a multi-level menu, allowing sub-pages to have distinct menu structures through the Link Tree module and Custom Block Library for easy updates
• Synchronizing date formats across News and Events pages to maintain consistency
• Creating a content entry guide and providing training to the client’s team to ensure they can efficiently manage the site after launch

The collaboration between Evolving Web and Université de Saint-Boniface successfully delivered a modern, accessible, and user-friendly website that reflects the university’s vibrant, community-oriented brand. The updated Drupal-based platform improved information architecture and streamlined navigation, enhancing content discoverability and usability for all, in compliance with WCAG AA and The Accessibility for Manitobans Act (with the funding from the Manitoba Accessibility Fund).

By adapting the university’s visual identity for digital environments, the website effectively conveys USB’s warmth, vibrancy, and community spirit. The integration of SDC Display, Layout Builder, and Paragraphs empowers USB’s small content management team to effortlessly manage content. The platform is set-up for long-term success, while the training and content entry guides equip and empower the USB digital team.