The first-ever virtual Convention.
Democratic National Convention
With the eyes of the country on Milwaukee, we created a visual identity and interactive website that leaned into the unique advantages of a virtual convention and launched the Democratic Party’s ticket to electoral success.
The first-ever virtual Convention.
Overview
Our work for the 2020 Democratic National Convention included assembling the visual brand, in partnership with Zero Studios in Milwaukee, and designing and developing the website.
The Challenge
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Democratic National Convention needed a site that would serve as the digital home base for an unexpectedly virtual convention, featuring a live feed of all four days of programming, resources for delegates and virtual attendees, digital toolkits, online actions, and much more.
We reimagined the site to lean into what makes a virtual convention special: accessibility to all. We designed the site to be accessible (WCAG AA 2.1 compliant) and bilingual and built it be exceptionally usable on all devices, hosted with WordPress VIP to accommodate anticipated spikes in traffic during livestreams and equipped with high-level security.
BRANDING COLLABORATION
America forward
We partnered with Zero Studios to create the visual brand reflecting both Americans and Wisconsinites. The Wisconsin state motto “Forward” aligned with the Democratic party’s vision for positive progress in America and encapsulated the concept of the visual brand. The logo and all applications signal forward momentum and inspire trust in the party’s moral compass, connecting the state’s resilience with America’s. Red, white, blue, and the addition of gold and cream were a direct nod to the host city. Stars and stripes created a nationally, celebratory tone.
Interactive storytelling
A lively, digital hub for the Democrats
We divided this project into multiple phases which allowed us to balance timely communications objectives with flexibility during the global pandemic. We kicked off with brand development and launched the initial homepage design.
We then created the interactive schedule and event listing with an eye for accessibility, flexibility, and share-ability. The schedule needed to be easily adaptable for the organization in order to accommodate changes in programming and it needed to feel familiar and easy-to-use for users looking for and sharing events. We built the tool so that each event could also be added to user’s calendars and was responsive to their time zone — no matter where they were watching.
Finally, we incorporated additional features, including digital toolkits and a profile photo generator, to make the site a true online home for a fully virtual convention.
The end result was a beautiful, user-friendly, reliable home base for people participating in the Convention and an easily modifiable communications platform for the event’s organizers.
- Branding & Art Direction
- Accessibility Toggle
- Adaptive & Responsive
- Schedule User Experience
- Livestreaming Convention Video
- Profile Photo Generator
Interactive storytelling
A lively, digital hub for the Democrats
We divided this project into multiple phases which allowed us to balance timely communications objectives with flexibility during the global pandemic. We kicked off with brand development and launched the initial homepage design.
We then created the interactive schedule and event listing with an eye for accessibility, flexibility, and share-ability. The schedule needed to be easily adaptable for the organization in order to accommodate changes in programming and it needed to feel familiar and easy-to-use for users looking for and sharing events. We built the tool so that each event could also be added to user’s calendars and was responsive to their time zone — no matter where they were watching.
Finally, we incorporated additional features, including digital toolkits and a profile photo generator, to make the site a true online home for a fully virtual convention.
The end result was a beautiful, user-friendly, reliable home base for people participating in the Convention and an easily modifiable communications platform for the event’s organizers.
- Branding & Art Direction
- Accessibility Toggle
- Adaptive & Responsive
- Schedule User Experience
- Livestreaming Convention Video
- Profile Photo Generator
Development & Accessibility
Building an event accessible to all
Knowing that more than 25 percent of all eligible voters are people with disabilities, our guiding goal was to remove barriers to participation and live up to the four principles of accessibility: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.
The website was built from the ground up with a committment to following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1 AA), which ensures high usability for everyone.
We brought on Beyond Vision, a Milwaukee based organization, to conduct accessibility user testing on the site. With their help, we brought the site up to compliance and ensured that every American could participate in the virtual convention. Website users were able to toggle between color contrasts, increase text size, opt-in for CART Live Captions and Audio Descriptions of livestreams, and use their assistive technology on a site that was built specifically with them in mind.
Interactive storytelling
Bringing the excitement of the convention floor online
Leading up to the convention, we collaborated with the DNCC to create an atmosphere online that made delegates and participants feel a similar sense of excitement and belonging as you might experience with an in-person convention. To create more opportunities for interaction and promotion of the event, we built a profile photo generator that allowed users to customize and share the new photo on their social media.
This assets in the digital toolkit successfully created hundreds of thousands of impressions across social platforms and the toolkit was used by delegates, attendees, influencers, and political leaders alike.
The takeaway
Over 3 million people visited the convention website, including 8 mllion page views during convention week alone. Beyond Vision awarded the Democratic National Convention website the WCAG 2.1 Level AA badge of approval and it received a Webby Honoree for Event Websites.
Wide Eye was proud to work with the Democratic National Convention Committee to build America’s first-ever virtual convention during one of the most critical moments for political participation in our nation’s history.