New Social Mobility Commission website build - Feb 2023

The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) monitors progress towards improving social mobility in the UK and promotes social mobility in England. It is an independent statutory body created by an Act of Parliament. Our current web presence is split between a gov.uk site, and a WordPress website for employers, 'Social Mobility Works'. The gov.uk site is our official web presence, but is limited in functionality, and does not communicate our independence. Social Mobility Works is a more visually appealing site, and allows us more flexibility with the content we produce; however, it currently fails to meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility requirements. It also has ongoing issues with maintenance, as SMC editors are unable to e.g. upload new toolkits. We want to build a new website that showcases the SMC, and the work we do for different groups. There are a large number of social mobility related charities and organisations working in the UK, and many people have not heard of the SMC, or do not understand what we do and why we are relevant to them. The new website will provide a greatly improved user experience. We have worked with an agency in phase one to create the information architecture (IA) and design of the new site. They will hand over all assets for the build to the developers in late March. There will be a handover period between the contract being awarded and the assets being delivered from the design agency, during which you would liaise with them to ensure a smooth transition.