Office of Civil Rights

  • Cornell University Office of Civil Rights - Home
  • Cornell University Office of Civil Rights - Policies & Procedures
  • Cornell University Office of Civil Rights - Profile
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Project Details

Role: Designer & Front-End Developer

Problem

Cornell’s Office of Civil Rights connects students, faculty, and staff with information on Title IX, discrimination and harassment reporting, accessibility accommodations, and related policies. Because many visitors arrive while navigating a difficult personal situation, the site needed to prioritize clarity and trust above all else, helping people find the right resource or reporting path quickly.

Process

  • Made information architecture the central design problem, given the volume of policies, procedures, and resources the office oversees
  • Built clear top-level navigation branching into detailed subsections for topics like sexual misconduct, bias and discrimination, and accommodations
  • At the client’s request, designed prominent callouts linking out to several related Cornell multi-sites, giving visitors an obvious path to adjacent offices and resources without needing to leave the current page’s context or dig through menus
  • Balanced Cornell’s institutional brand requirements with a tone appropriate to the content: calm, clear, and easy to navigate under stress

The Outcome

A WordPress site that gives students, faculty, and staff a clear, low-friction way to find sensitive information and reporting paths, while still meeting the university’s brand and accessibility standards.