NYCLU
Telling a powerful story about NYCLU’s unique role and value to the work of social change across New York State.
Background
The New York Civil Liberties Union, an affiliate of the ACLU, is one of the nation’s foremost defenders of civil liberties and civil rights. With more than 160,000 members across the state, they have advocated for New Yorkers to have equal access to opportunities and the equal ability to participate in government decisions since 1951.
The challenge
The social change landscape had evolved greatly in recent years, with people demanding radical transparency in pursuit of radical change. Gone were the days of slow, progressive change and closed-door giving. NYCLU needed to be able to meet these demands head on and show their work and their impact with clarity and simplicity. But how could they tell a clear story when their work spanned so many interconnected issues, supported by a wide range of tools?
The opportunity
This was a chance for NYCLU to reaffirm their promise to New York State. They needed to clearly and confidently show their peers, partners, donors, and volunteers the value NYCLU provides as a critical piece to the larger mosaic of social change.
Content Strategy
Hyperakt worked closely with the NYCLU to refine and re-organize their areas of focus. We established a new organizational framework for their focus areas comprised of four color-coded priority pillars and their subsidiary issues. All content on the website is tagged by multiple relevant issues, making the intersectional nature of the fight for civil liberties more visually explicit.
Navigation
Each issue tag doubles as a link, bringing the user to a page that provides a comprehensive overview of how the NYCLU is tackling that issue based on a multi-pronged approach of campaign work, rights education, thought leadership, policymaking, and court representation.
A new way to talk about their work
Hyperakt also refreshed the NYCLU's verbal brand identity to speak to the shift they’ve undergone: from defending the rights of New Yorkers to driving lasting, structural change through a powerful combination of litigation, policy advocacy, field organizing, and strategic communications.
A new website from the ground up
No one else has the credibility, the clout, and the unobstructed view NYCLU has over the complex landscape of rights and liberties. Through their new website, they transformed a passive browsing experience into a substantive tool that furthers the work of their partners, allies, and stakeholders. The site reinforces the multi-pronged, interconnected nature of the work by making all their avenues of work visible. It serves as an active tool to further the work of their various stakeholders by providing expertise, education, inspiration, and pathways for action.
A simpler structure
With this new website, NYCLU reduced the page count in order to create a more streamlined, organized experience that feels easier to navigate. The simpler structure is the product of satisfying what is important to their readers, focusing on the information they need, the expertise they seek, and the opportunities they're looking for to get involved.
A flexible frame
Their refreshed website gives them the flexibility to create informative and interactive digital campaigns that increase participation and elevate their field work.
