BioEcoOcean Project Website - Deliverable 6.1

Funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement number 101136748. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Deliverable 6.1 Project website May 2024 Authors: Artur Palacz, Dominik Krzymiński, Nina Lepola, Lina Mtwana Nordlund Ref. Ares(2025)10648944 - 03/12/2025 Deliverable 6.1 Project website 2 Project Information Project full title: Co-Creating Transformative Pathways to Biological and Ecosystem Ocean Observations Project acronym: BioEcoOcean Grant agreement number: 101136748 Project start date and duration: 1st of February 2024, 48 months Project website: https://bioecoocean.org/ Project Coordinator: Lina Mtwana Nordlund, Uppsala University Deliverable information Deliverable number: 6.1 Deliverable title: Project website Submission date: 31/05/2024 Level of dissemination: Public Work package and task: WP6, Task 6.1 Lead Beneficiary: IO PAN Authors: Artur Palacz (IO PAN), Dominik Krzymiński (IO PAN), Nina Lepola, Lina Mtwana Nordlund To be cited as: Palacz, A., Krzymiński, D., Lepola, N., Nordlund, L.K. 2024. Project website. BioEcoOcean deliverable 6.1. https://10.5281/zenodo.17786530 Deliverable 6.1 Project website 3 Executive Summary This report provides a description of BioEcoOcean’s project’s public website (https://bioecoocean.eu/ and https://bioecoocean.org/), its structure, purpose and functionality. The project website is an important dissemination tool, and it has been developed to serve as the primary online platform for dissemination and communication of project activities, results, and impacts. The website aims to increase visibility, engage stakeholders, and ensure the accessibility of information to the broader public and scientific community. The website is an informative platform presenting the main project information, such as the consortium structure, objectives of the project and work packages. D6.1 Project website report evaluates how the website meets the accessibility requirements and includes an overview of the plans for website evolution throughout the project time frame to meet the demands of successful communication, dissemination and exploitation of project results. Deliverable 6.1 Project website 4 Table of Contents Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................................................. 5 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 6 2. Website design, structure and functionality ........................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Objectives and design .......................................................................................................................................... 6 2.2. Domain name ....................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.3. Website structure and functionality .................................................................................................................... 7 2.4. Website accessibility requirements ..................................................................................................................... 8 3. Future developments .............................................................................................................................................. 9 Appendices .................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Appendix 1. Snapshots from the website .................................................................................................................. 10 Deliverable 6.1 Project website 5 Abbreviations Abbreviation Definition IOC The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission IO PAN Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UU Uppsala University WCAG Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Deliverable 6.1 Project website 6 1. Introduction The BioEcoOcean project’s public website, accessible from two domains: https://www.bioecoocean.eu and https://bioecoocean.org/, serves as a crucial tool for disseminating and communicating key information about the project. It offers an effective platform for project stakeholders and the general public to gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges addressed by the project and the solutions proposed. This website, developed as the first deliverable under Work Package 6 (Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation) was publicly launched on 31 May 2024. The website was designed jointly by IO PAN and Uppsala University, with additional input from consortium members. This report provides a brief description of the BioEcoOcean project's public website, covering its design, objectives, structure and functionality in Section 2, and considerations for its future developments in Section 3. Screenshots demonstrating examples of the website functionality are included in Appendix 1. 2. Website design, structure and functionality 2.1 Objectives and design The project website was designed to fulfil its main objectives which are to: • Provide comprehensive information about the BioEcoOcean project, including its objectives, methodologies and expected impacts. • Disseminate project results and outputs to stakeholders, including policy-makers, researchers, industry professionals and the general public. • Facilitate communication and collaboration among project partners and stakeholders. • Ensure transparency and accountability of project activities and progress. To this end, the project website aimed to have a modern and user-friendly interface with an appealing visual identity by following the latest online standards in web development. The aim was to provide intuitive navigation within the website for all users across the project target audiences. The website features a responsive design, ensuring accessibility across various devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Key features include: • An intuitive navigation menu for easy access to different sections. • Integration of social media links to enhance outreach and engagement. • A news feed to keep visitors informed about the latest developments and events. A more detailed website communication strategy will be described in the BioEcoOcean Initial Plan for Deliverable 6.1 Project website 7 Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication which will be submitted as Deliverable Report D6.2 in Month 6 of the project. 2.2. Domain name The name of the project website domain was chosen to ensure it is immediately recognizable and easily findable for the broad user pool which the project aims to address via its website. The website is accessible from two parallel domains: https://bioecoocean.eu and https://bioecoocean.org. The latter domain will help recognize the project’s ambition and active engagement with the global ocean observing community and associated stakeholders. It was also selected with the perspective of enabling long-term legacy and website maintenance after the project officially ends, in particular considering the long-term promotion and application of the Blueprint for Integrated Ocean Science and associated online resources which will be primarily accessed through the project website. 2.3. Website structure and functionality The website is structured to include the following sections: • Home: Overview of the project, latest news, and highlights • About: Detailed information about the project, its goals, and methodologies o Objectives: Description of project overall aims o Work Packages: Description of work packages and their specific objectives and activities o Partners: Profiles of project partner institutions and their roles, member profiles (integrated with IOC-UNESCO's OceanExpert platform) • Actions: Description of key project actions organized by three types of living labs: o Blueprint Living Lab: Information about development of the Blueprint for Integrated Ocean Science o Focal Living Labs: Description of project research focused on Biology & Ecosystems Essential Ocean Variables o Learning Living Lab: Capacity development resources • Outputs: Publications, reports, data, presentations and other outputs generated by the project; fully integrated with the BioEcoOcean Community on the Zenodo.org where all project outputs are being deposited and made accessible during and beyond the lifetime of the project • Resources: Additional project materials (e.g. project logo, fact sheets, videos) Deliverable 6.1 Project website 8 • News & Events: Updates on project progress and related news. Information on upcoming events, workshops, and conference • Contact: Contact details of Project Coordination and Project Communication for further inquiries In addition, the top menu bar also provides direct access to BioEcoOcean’s social media channels, and two additional items: • Get Involved: Invitation to take part in surveys or other means of active participation in the project for collaborators and other stakeholders from outside of the consortium • Webinars: Providing direct links to project’s webinars 2.4. Website accessibility requirements The website has been designed to comply with international standards for accessible web content, specifically the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. These guidelines encompass a broad spectrum of recommendations aimed at enhancing the accessibility of web content to individuals with various disabilities, including but not limited to blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, learning disabilities, cognitive limitations, limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity, and combinations of these. In order to enhance the accessibility of the BioEcoOcean website, a dedicated function has been incorporated to enable users to adjust text size, modify contrast settings to a darker mode, and underline links (Figure 1.) Figure 1: Accessibility options available on the BioEcoOcean website. Deliverable 6.1 Project website 9 The website's accessibility was assessed using the WAVE web accessibility evaluation tool developed by WebAIM.org (https://wave.webaim.org/). This tool provides visual feedback on the accessibility of web content, aligning errors with WCAG 2.2 failures. Additionally, the WAVE interface facilitates human evaluation of numerous other aspects of accessibility and compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and Section 508. The results of this evaluation are presented in Figure 2. Figure 2: BioEcoOcean website accessibility evaluation using the WAVE tool. 3. Future developments The website remains open to further changes and addition of modes and functions depending on the need. Plans for future enhancements include but are not limited to: • Subscription form for project newsletter • Blueprint development platform and associated resources integrated into the project website • Addition of multimedia content, including videos and webinar recordings • Regular updates to the project results and publications section as new data becomes available