DEI Year Four Progress Report

The University of Michigan’s Year Four Progress Report represented a significant shift in how the institution shared its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion achievements. For the first time, we moved from a traditional PDF format to a fully digital experience, making the comprehensive report more accessible and engaging for all stakeholders.

The Challenge

Converting a detailed institutional report into an engaging digital format presented several challenges:

• Maintaining the academic rigor while improving readability
• Creating an information architecture that made complex data easily navigable
• Ensuring the platform could handle extensive content without sacrificing performance
• Meeting strict accessibility requirements for a diverse university audience

Technical Implementation

The project pushed me to explore modern WordPress development practices. The tech stack included:

• WordPress with Sage theme framework for robust content management
• Advanced Custom Fields for flexible content structuring
• Roots stack for modern development workflow
• AlpineJS for lightweight interactivity
• TailwindCSS for maintainable styling
• Custom CI/CD pipeline for deployment to ITS servers

Design Approach

The design focused on creating an open, airy presentation that would make dense institutional content more approachable:

• Strategic use of whitespace to improve readability
• Clear typography hierarchy for better content scanning
• Responsive layouts that work across all device sizes
• Interactive elements to engage users with the data
• Accessible color schemes and contrast ratios

Key Features

• Interactive data visualizations
• Responsive navigation system
• Print-friendly formatting
• Accessible to screen readers and keyboard navigation
• Fast-loading pages despite content complexity

Learning Outcomes

This project provided valuable insights into modern WordPress development:

• First hands-on experience with the Roots/Sage ecosystem
• Implementation of new deployment methods for university servers
• Balancing modern development practices with institutional requirements

Impact

The digital transformation of the DEI report significantly improved its reach and usability:

• Increased accessibility for all university stakeholders
• Improved ability to share and reference specific sections
• Better engagement with report content through interactive elements
• Reduced environmental impact by eliminating printed reports

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