NHS-London Deanery

Although the structural core of the London Deanery web site is deceptively simple, Openia developed some visual customisations that make the job of updating the web site much simpler, and also help London Deanery to enforce it's visual identity.  These included automatic gathering of links to downloadable documents such as pdfs which were contextualised to the page content.  Also, Openia provided an automatic table formatting for the attrative display of tabular information.

Openia's aim with all of its web site developments to reduce reliance on the use of html tables in creating the layout, and London Deanery is a prime example of Openia's 'accessibility-first' approach to web site design.   

Other customisations and developments include:

System for adding external courses.  This system allows approved course provides their own login and secure private area to add courses directly to the web site.  The course information is controlled by a form, and the London Deanery web team have publication approval over all course information.  The courses are then arranged automatically by date and are searchable.  To create this system, Openia had to manage the security options so that external providers were unable to access any information except their own courses.

Vacancy listing system.  London Deanery had a computerised vacancy system for certain types of clinical appointments, but to advertise them on the web site required a manual transfer of information.  Openia replicated the features of the existing system into the web site, which then replaced the older system.

Online course system.  As part of its Faculty Development web site, London Deanery required the ability to publish interactive courses online.  Openia customised an online education system which met with London Deanery's exacting requirements.  Each module is self contained with a variable number of pages/segments.  This is arranged into a table of contents style menu so that any course page could be easily accessed. 

Readers of the module had the option to 'enroll' or register for that module, which gave them additional interactivity.  Registered students could keep track of how far they had completed the course, keep and edit a reflective log for their coursework, rate the effectiveness of the course material and send queries or comments to the course moderator.  On completion of the course, the student could download a course certificate for printing.  The entire course could be downloaded as a pdf, and Openia also developed a special glossary and bibliography management system to direct further reading.

NHS London Deanery is responsible for postgraduate medical and dental training in North and South London. They required a web site that would easily provide information on training opportunities, and which also kept them in compliance with accessibility standards as required by the Disability Discrimination Act. 

Openia worked in partnership with the web development team at London Deanery to create an attractive and easy-to-maintain usable web site, which has proven itself robust enough to grow with the changing needs of the London Deanery.

Openia and London Deanery have an ongoing support relationship that continually adds new features and increases the usability of their core web site.  This has included an online recruitment process, a process for adding external courses of interest to the London Deanery audience, and most significantly, a complete course system for online learning in their Faculty Development web site.