Central Texas Electric Cooperative

Overview

About

Central Texas Electric Cooperative (CTEC) is a forward-thinking utility cooperative that firmly upholds the seven cooperative principles; guiding its commitment to community service, democratic member control, and economic participation. In an effort to further engage their diverse audience and enhance the member experience, CTEC collaborated with Powerful to undertake a comprehensive website redesign. This redesign was not just about aesthetic improvement; it was a strategic move to engage their audience more effectively, leveraging the power of technology to embody the cooperative principles in a modern, accessible format.

Bridging Accessibility & Community Needs

Addressing the diverse needs of its members, the website redesign placed a strong emphasis on accessibility compliance. Powerful developed the website to meet the latest accessibility guidelines, ensuring comprehensive access for all members, regardless of their abilities. These accessibility features include enhanced print functionality for better offline access, mouse-free navigation with landing tiles for those with difficulty using a mouse, larger font sizes with on-page zoom functionality for vision impairment, required alt-tags for images, and properly labeled form fields.

Engaging Design for Better Understanding

Powerful also prioritized the simplification of complex information to cater to a broad audience. Powerful’s approach involved the creative use of visuals and intuitive layouts to enhance key sections of the site, such as SmartHub, Understanding My Bill, and Bill Pay Options. For example, the SmartHub page was reimagined with simplicity in mind. This visualized page’s graphics enable members to easily navigate and manage their SmartHub accounts. The Understanding My Bill page uses visual breakdowns and infographics to demystify the billing process, making it transparent and easy to comprehend. Similarly, the Bill Pay Options page was designed with clear visual cues, guiding members through various payment methods effortlessly.

This focus on simplifying and visualizing complex information boosts member engagement while aligning with CTEC’s goal of educating and informing its community. As a result, visualized pages make energy management a more approachable and less daunting task for all members.