The National Library of Australia engaged Digital Garden to redesign its primary website and develop a scalable design system that could provide consistency across its digital platforms.
The project required a highly accessible and flexible platform capable of serving diverse audiences while connecting users with major Library services including the Catalogue, Trove and the NLA Bookshop.
Digital Garden designed and delivered the new website on Drupal 10, creating a modern, accessible digital experience supported by a reusable design system and an architecture capable of evolving with the Library’s future requirements.
About the project
The National Library of Australia sought to transform its primary website into a more accessible, intuitive and scalable digital platform that better reflected the Library’s identity and connected users with its extensive collections, services and resources.
Prior to development, the Library had undertaken extensive discovery and user research covering audience needs and information architecture. Digital Garden built upon these insights through collaborative UX and UI design, prototyping and ongoing usability testing.
The project was delivered iteratively, with the Library involved throughout design and development sprints. User testing was used to validate key decisions and refine the experience as the platform evolved.
A significant component of the project was the development of a scalable design system. Drawing on established Australian government design systems and accessibility best practice, Digital Garden created reusable components using Atomic Design principles.
Accessibility was embedded throughout the design and development process, with the platform designed to meet WCAG AA requirements and the Australian Government Digital Service Standard.
Drupal 10 provides the underlying content architecture for the new experience. Its component-based implementation enables the Library to create varied content experiences while maintaining consistency across a large institutional website.
The platform also provides clear integration and pathways between the main Library website and key digital services including the Catalogue, Trove and NLA Bookshop.
The result is a modern, secure and scalable Drupal platform that makes the National Library’s extensive resources easier to navigate and provides a flexible foundation for the continued evolution of its digital presence.
Why Drupal was chosen
GovCMS was initially considered for the project. During discovery, Digital Garden and the National Library identified that the platform required greater flexibility to accommodate the Library’s complex digital requirements and evolving ecosystem.
Drupal 10 was selected to provide this flexibility while retaining the security, structured content management and extensibility of the Drupal ecosystem.
The platform needed to integrate with and provide clear pathways to major Library services including the Catalogue, Trove and the NLA Bookshop, while supporting a broad range of institutional and public-facing content.
Drupal’s flexible content architecture also supported the implementation of a component-based design system, enabling consistent digital experiences while providing editors with the flexibility required to manage diverse content.
The resulting Drupal architecture provides the Library with a scalable foundation that can continue to evolve as its digital services and user requirements change.
Technical Specifications
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