How can you take part?

In the first place, have a look at our branding guidelines (1356 kb) . Any design you come up with will have to meet these standards as well as the W3C guidelines on accessibilty.

Next, have a read around the site. Look at our research pages, our  information about MS, our news releases, our forums, and our pages for fundraisers.

We would like you to come up with three basic page designs for us. You don’t have to worry about a site map – we already have one.

All we would like is three pages:

• A front page for www.mssociety.org.uk that meets our branding guidelines, includes links to eight sub-sections (like the eight big buttons on our current home page), and which has space for a latest news update column.
  
• A standard content page, with tabs or links back to the section index. This should be a page that can contain a main column of written information, that is clearly part of the MS Society’s website, and which might be able to host a video or image.
  
• A personalised fundraising page, similar to those you might see on www.justgiving.com, but with a definite MS Society twist. This should include an image and text, and should allow users to personalise their own area of the page – while still being recognisable as part of the main site.

You need to send your designs by email to webteam@mssociety.org.uk  by 31 October. Images in PDF, PSD or JPG format are all fine but best check if you want to send other filetypes. We will look at all designs in early November and make a decision by the middle of that month.

Please don’t become hung up on the text or the titles for section links. And don’t worry too much about how perfect it looks. What we are looking for is fresh, accessible design ideas that will help bring our site bang up to date.

The main point to bear in mind is that it must meet our branding guidelines. If you submit something without our logo, or using colours that we don’t, then we won’t be able to go with your suggestions.

 

This is open to anyone – whether web professional, design student, ambitious amateur, or more. We cannot pay everyone for their time in preparing an entry, but whoever designs the layout we pick will be asked to work with us in taking the design forward.

All entries will become copyright of the MS Society at the point at which they are submitted, but rest assured that you will receive plenty of recognition if we pick your design!

If you need any more information, email the webteam and we will do our best to answer your questions.

 

Extra Information/Inspiration

If it helps, think about these three people who use our site. What might they want to see? How might they engage with it and how does your design reflect this?

Then think about three people who use our site:

• Louise, 28, has just found out she has MS. She has some problems with her legs and is worried about whether it will affect her chances of starting a family. She still works full time, but sometimes finds it a struggle. Her boyfriend and parents are worried about her. She would like to give them more information about MS, but would also like to talk to other people in the same position – including about some sensitive subjects that she doesn’t want to talk to her family or friends about.
  
• Michael and Susan, both in their 50s. Susan has had MS for more than 20 years. Susan no longer works and Michael is cutting down on his hours so he can do more to care for her. Susan sometimes gets frustrated with the state of their marriage and likes to let off steam with friends online. Michael doesn’t fully understand how MS is affecting her and wants to know how other people like him cope. He also worries about money and the future. 
  
• Stuart, 36. Stuart’s best mate, Mark, was diagnosed with MS two years ago. Since then, he has seen Mark get worse and is frustrated that he can’t do much to help. He wants to support the MS Society, but isn’t too interested in all the information or the forums. Instead, he has done two fundraising events – a sky dive, and a half marathon – and raised more than £2,000. He likes to know his money is being well spent, loves reading comments on his justgiving page, and spends more time than he should on Facebook.
  

 

Tell us what you think

We're also running an online discussion group where our regular site visitors can air their views about the site and explain what they'd like to see in the future. This group will also be asked to look at some of the best submissions in due course.

If you’d like to join the group, sign up to the message boards , email your username to webteam@mssociety.org.uk and we'll add you to the list.