Enhancing national preparedness with counterterrorism training and website redesign

Emergency response training and website revamp

The Counter Terrorism Operations Support (CTOS) program delivers training for emergency responders to take immediate, decisive action to prevent or respond to terrorist use of radiological or nuclear weapons. PowerTrain was selected for two tasks for this project:

• Developing a 2-hour web-based training (WBT)
• Redesigning the CTOS website

The training covered five missions and their corresponding tactics, integrating client-produced videos for a dynamic learning experience. Through the website redesign, PowerTrain enhanced functionality, improved look and feel, improved organization, and made Section 508-compliant.

Equipping first responders

PowerTrain developed a 2-hour WBT for Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) Response Guidance with videos produced by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The WBT was a new course built around a what-if scenario of a radiological explosion and the mission and tactics necessary to respond and react to such situations.

In redesigning the site, PowerTrain solicited user feedback to reorganize the content to make it easier for CTOS’s customers to find, in addition to modernizing the look and feel, improving overall functionality, and ensuring 508 Compliance across the site and its resources.

Prioritizing accessibility and modernization

The main challenges in redesigning the existing CTOS website were:

• Making the new site functional across computers, phones, and tablets
• Making the site 508 compliant (which it had not been previously).

PowerTrain’s graphic designers and programmers worked closely together to ensure proper scaling of images and flow of text across devices. PowerTrain repeatedly tested the new website design in multiple browsers and devices before making the new website live.

The project team also massively reduced the amount of text displayed on the webpages. The old site had large portions of drawn-out text, which we reorganized so that the new site has just a few sentences actually displayed, hiding the rest of the details and information behind “Read More” links. This new design allows a visitor to expand long text and automatically collapses previous sections, making the page appear less cluttered and more modern and manageable.

Uniquely tailored design

The content of the CTOS WBT was itself unique. It was written for a specific but broad audience, including first responders, medical professionals, and local government officials; each of these has a unique role in responding to a radiological event, but also needs to understand the content in its entirety in order to ensure any emergency response is effective.

Supporting this content are client-produced animated videos of a radiological event. These videos provide a simulation of an actual event and are used in the course as a summary of the content presented in the lesson. This links to a real-world scenario that helps cement the concepts in the learners’ minds.

For the new website, one unique feature is the “student testimonials,” which are sprinkled throughout the website. Using existing testimonials, the design and programming teams worked together to create an eye-catching feature that highlights the benefits of CTOS training. Long testimonials were shortened and paired with an icon that represents the first responder giving the feedback (i.e., a police officer, a firefighter, a doctor, etc.). These icons also allowed us to anonymize the commenter and cut down time spent finding appropriate stock photos for every featured testimonial.

Secure hosting and maintenance

In addition to everything described above, PowerTrain also hosts the website and provides maintenance and updates for up to 100 hours a year.

User-friendly experiences

PowerTrain delivered a 2-hour, six-module, interactive course supporting the RDD Guide. Each module focused on one of the five missions and their corresponding tactics. In addition to standard content screens and interactive screens, PowerTrain incorporated supporting videos produced by CTOS that not only demonstrate the mission and tactics covered in the module but also enhance the learner’s experience.

For the website, PowerTrain’s analysis of our user experience testing led us to develop a more user-friendly information architecture, while our art department developed several modernized and refreshed prototypes with different looks and color palettes (all with the CTOS branding). PowerTrain will continue to support the website by providing annual updates and secure hosting.