Safer Wales: Designing Empathy
The Accessible Digital Identity for Safer Wales
Designing a website for a charity—especially one dedicated to supporting and empowering vulnerable groups—is perhaps the most sensitive commission a designer can undertake. When tasked with creating the digital identity for Safer Wales: Cymru Ddiogelach, our goal transcended mere aesthetics; it was about designing a safe, accessible, and trustworthy digital refuge.
The site needed to serve three distinct audiences simultaneously: individuals seeking support, potential donors/volunteers, and partner organisations.
The Commission: A Digital Harbour of Trust and Accessibility
The mission of Safer Wales is profound: to "support, protect and empower groups of people who are often invisible in society." Our design had to immediately reflect this commitment. The visual language needed to be empathetic and non-intimidating, avoiding any design elements that could trigger distress or confusion in a user who may be in crisis. Key requirements included:
Establishing Immediate Trust: Visually reassuring visitors of the charity’s professionalism and safety.
Unwavering Accessibility: Ensuring the site is fully legible and easy to navigate, regardless of the user's circumstances or technological comfort.
Inclusivity: Integrating the essential bilingual functionality (Cymraeg/English) smoothly into the core navigation.
Our Design Strategy: Calm, Clear, and Crisis-Aware
The strategy focused on a subdued, highly functional design that prioritises the user's emotional and practical needs above all else.
Aesthetic and Emotional Tone: We chose a calm, clean, and professional aesthetic. This avoids the sensationalism or overly busy layouts common in some sectors, instead favouring spacious design, which conveys serenity and organisation. The colour palette would employ calming, reliable colours (often muted blues or greens) against a high-contrast background to project stability and non-aggression.
Accessibility and Typography (The Readability Imperative): For a support website, clear communication is a critical safety feature. We implemented a highly readable, clean sans-serif typeface with generous line spacing and large font sizes. Contrast ratios were rigorously checked to meet high accessibility standards, ensuring the content is consumable by all users, including those viewing the site under stress or with visual impairments.
Bilingual Integration: The immediate presentation of the Cymraeg/English language choice on the landing page is not a mere technical feature; it is a fundamental design decision that signals inclusivity and respect for the whole Welsh community, aligning with the charity’s core value of empowerment.
Mission-Driven Focus: The site's content structure is direct and mission-focused. The prominent placement of the core mission statement ensures that visitors immediately understand the charity's scope, allowing those seeking help to quickly identify if Safer Wales is the correct resource.
The Result: A Digital Bridge to Support
The design for Safer Wales: Cymru Ddiogelach functions as a vital digital bridge. It sacrifices flashy visuals for functional empathy, using structure, high accessibility standards, and a professional yet calming tone to establish immediate trust. It is a highly effective piece of design where clarity is kindness, ensuring that individuals who feel "invisible" have a clear, safe, and easily navigable path toward support, protection, and empowerment.
