Mash-ups and multimedia - new UK website (01/05/08)
Cutting-edge London web design agency Chameleon Net is delighted to announce the launch of the brand new UK website for humanitarian medical aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
The new site, www.msf.org.uk, designed and developed by Chameleon Net, presents a new online image for MSF in the UK in a push to augment its already highly-respected brand, bringing the charity bang up to date with innovative use of new technologies.
Featuring multimedia audio and video from MSF's field projects, the site aims to give visitors a more immediate, interactive view of the organisation's work. It also includes a Google Maps mash-up, which Chameleon created by mapping the locations of MSF activities onto the Google application. It will offer the opportunity to download a feed that updates the user's Google Earth application with continually-updated information about MSF's work in different locations.
Daryl Irvine, Creative Director at Chameleon Net, comments: “MSF has a wealth of content and we focused on the creative presentation of this resource to inform the design process and the site's functionality.”
He continues: “From the high resolution photography incorporated into the page headers to the dynamic, sliding ‘featured content' panels - every creative choice was determined by how it would empower both the editors and users of the site.”
MSF is keen to attract more volunteers, such as medics and nurses, to provide desperately needed medical care to victims of humanitarian crises all over the world. The new website's state-of-the-art job application system makes it quicker and easier than ever before to volunteer, allowing the entire application process to be conducted online. The information will be automatically stored in a database of applicants, creating an automated workflow for MSF and reducing costs associated with HR.
The new website features the latest AJAX-based CMS technology, allowing any non-technical user to drag and drop content into the website with no fuss. Lucy Clayton, Head of Communications at MSF UK, says: “The online world offers us the chance to communicate the aims and work of Médecins Sans Frontières to a huge range of people, from potential field volunteers to journalists, academics and the general public. The site features first hand accounts from our volunteers working in crisis zones, as well as videos, slideshows and podcasts about medical and humanitarian issues.”
“We hope the new site will give our supporters, and visitors in general, a unique insight into what we do and why we do it. We also plan to use the site to raise awareness of many of the people and places in the world consistently overlooked by the world's media and to draw attention to the many humanitarian crises happening away from the media spotlight.”
Phase two of the launch, due over the next few weeks, includes enhancements to the job application system and a new set of tools for ‘Friends of MSF societies', affiliated organisations who will be able to manage their own section of the site.
Press Contacts
Dan Martin
Chameleon Net
020 7332 6360
danm@chameleonnet.co.uk