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Website Goals & Credits
The Housing Commons Research Centre (HCRC) website is an interactive hub for community-led housing knowledge, offering accessible resources, research, and updates in an academic yet approachable tone. It allows users to search, contribute, collaborate, and engage with events, webinars, and cross-community dialogue. Visitors can explore the Centre’s goals and initiatives, subscribe to receive updates, and access a mobile-friendly blog, newsletters, and social media channels. Its purpose is to share and amplify community-led housing research and resources, informing and connecting a broad audience to support collaboration and equitable housing solutions.
In October 2025, Susannah Bunce, Nat Pace, and Sam Carter-Shamai launched the Housing Commons Research Centre at the New Housing Alternatives Annual Workshop. Research Associate Sam Carter-Shamai coordinated the web project and contributed content, while Matthew Burpee designed the site’s user experience, integrating pages, posts, newsletters, and community features into an accessible and cohesive digital ecosystem.
HCRC team members and the web consultant contributed page content, posts, surveys, graphics, and photography. The website’s contents are licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Presentation
The homepage welcomes visitors with a clear headline and call to action that introduces the Centre’s purpose and highlights upcoming events. Simple navigation, concise introductions, and straightforward calls to action support usability and accessibility, helping all users—including those using assistive technologies—easily understand and engage with the site. Prioritizing clarity reduces cognitive load, improves compatibility with accessibility tools, and provides intuitive pathways for finding information or taking action.
The colour palette uses a friendly light-yellow background, with green for renewal and calm, and blue for balance and contrast. Typography is set in Google’s Inter, a clean sans-serif font designed for exceptional on-screen readability. Icons by Dave Gandy (licensed under CC BY 3.0) are used throughout the site to enhance visual clarity and comprehension; while attribution is not required, we acknowledge and appreciate his contributions to open-source design.
Website Technology & Standards
The site is built with WordPress, a widely used and easy-to-maintain content management system powering over 43% of websites worldwide. WordPress enables flexible creation and management of pages, blog posts, events, documents, and profile directories, and supports interactive features such as newsletters, event RSVPs, forms, surveys, social feeds, multilingual content, and email integration. The site is fast-loading and optimized for accessibility, search visibility (SEO), and user experience, supported by plugins that enhance analytics, indexing, and visitor engagement.
Development follows current web technology standards to ensure compatibility across modern browsers and devices. The design and functionality adhere to WCAG 2.0 Level AAA accessibility guidelines, enabling all users, including those using assistive technologies, to access content easily. Regular testing and maintenance help keep the site secure, reliable, and user-friendly across platforms and screen sizes.