At Walking SA our mission is to get more people walking more often.

We are upgrading our website. We’d love to hear your feedback on the current website and other comparable websites, to assist in guiding us in determining where to focus our upgrade.

Complete the survey by 10th March 2023 for a chance to win an Osprey Siskin 12L Hydration Pack valued at $189.95 thanks to Paddy Pallin.

The survey takes about 10-15 minutes to complete.

Read on for background, or take the survey now.

Background

The Walking SA website was developed in 2013-14. At this time, the key outcomes for the website were to provide an online presence for Walking SA, to provide basic background on the organisation, and to inspire walking activity with 20 or so popular walks showcased through the ‘Find a place to walk’ database.

Since this time, the website has grown significantly to cater for a variety of different functions. This includes:

• an online walks database with over 780 walks
• a repository for news items (including advocacy work and newsletter topics)
• a walks calendar of weekly club walks and walking events (uploaded by organisers)
• organizational information (such as board members, the constitution, contact information)
• opportunities to support Walking SA (individual/organizational supporters and donations)
• club-specific resources

Walking SA receives regular feedback on the quality of the website as a resource. This largely relates to the online walks database, which is viewed over 3 million times annually. Although the website is very highly valued by the walking community, the foundation programming and design was never intended to house the massive walks database, or the array of different content that now sits on the website. The gradual growth of the website, in unplanned directions, has resulted in a non-optimal structure, with background technical ‘fixes’ that work, but could be streamlined and improved significantly. In addition, many possible additions and improvements have been identified over time to enhance the user experience and improve accessibility for a wider range of users.

Read on for background, or take the survey now.

Known website upgrade needs

There are many features we know we lack on our website, or could improve:

• Make the website Accessible for all website visitors, including for visitors with visual and other impairments.
• Inclusion of acknowledgement on First Nations Peoples, ideally so that people can have an understanding as whose Country/Countries they are on whilst walking a trail.
• Refreshed aesthetic – redesign the website, so that it looks better, and works better, on all devices.
• Upgrade of some walks and trails content to include key information such as:
  • a clear starting point (extend to many more walks, currently only on the recent few hundred walks)
  • improve the number of walks and trails that include public transport directions
  • improve directions to walks to enable better understanding of how far someone needs to travel to walk a trail
• A clear statement of who manages the trail and how to contact them (eg National Parks and Wildlife Service of SA, Forestry SA, a particular local council)
• Resources for bushwalkers (such as safety tips packing lists for walks, and training pathways for skills like navigation)
• Resources for ways to improve urban walkability (such as case studies and success stories on improvements in local government areas)