The new weac.org is all about you, and that is why we brought a roomful of WEAC members together (twice) a few weeks ago to test it. It was approximately the six-month anniversary of the launch, and we thought it was time to kick the tires and see firsthand how the site handled in a live “road test.”

After more than a year of extensive research and planning and finally implementation, it was an amazing experience to literally stand over the shoulders of these volunteers as they navigated through the site. We asked them to accomplish various goals, such as find a specific article, or sign up for an event. Sometimes, they quickly and easily accomplished the task and sometimes they hit roadblocks. We carefully studied their every move and made copious notes to document areas that are both working as planned and that need more attention.

We also asked the volunteers for their general impressions of the site, and they were overwhelmingly positive. Overall, the users said they like the site a lot better than the old one. Many complimented the design and layout. A few said they thought the text size was too small, and so we have since added a text scaling feature to most pages. We found out that the search engine was not always producing the best results, and we are working on improving that function.

It has been a long journey to get to this point but, as I have said before, the launch of the new weac.org in February was really just the beginning. Now that we have the structure and foundation in place, we are adding features, fine-tuning navigation, and improving functionality. And, step by step, we are transforming weac.org from a Web site to an online social networking and collaboration community. It is becoming a hub where members share information, express their opinions and participate in discussions.

Stay tuned. We have many more features in the works.

But always remember that you, as a WEAC member, are the driving force behind this site. We built it based on your input from the beginning, and we will continuously make changes and additions to meet your ongoing needs. Please continue to tell us what is working and not working for you. We not only want to know, we need to know.