How Schaffrath Modernized BDP’s Website with a TYPO3 Relaunch
Discover how Schaffrath transformed the Professional Association of German Psychologists’ (BDP) website into a modern, accessible, and editor-friendly TYPO3 platform.
Germany's Leading Professional Organization for Psychologists
The Professional Association of German Psychologists e.V. (BDP) is the main professional association for psychologists in Germany. With more than 10,000 members, it serves as the primary interest group for advancing psychological issues in society, politics and business throughout Germany.
The association offers an extensive range of services, including training, career counselling, and advocacy initiatives. Its target groups and members range from career starters to experienced professionals and political decision-makers.
Faced with an outdated website, BDP decided to move forward with a comprehensive modernization of its digital presence. To achieve this goal, it partnered with Schaffrath.
Website Overhaul with TYPO3
By 2022, BDP’s website had expanded considerably, but lacked the modern features and capabilities that would allow it to meet both member and visitor needs.
Following a selection process, Schaffrath was chosen as the web development partner to lead the project. This selection was primarily based on Schaffrath’s extensive experience handling TYPO3 projects, along with its many years of experience with associations and publishers.
New Website Requirements
The project contained a diverse set of requirements. Key to its successful completion would be the creation of a modern, low-barrier platform that presents the association’s wide range of content in a structured way, while also being technically state of the art.
Key aspects included a centralized content hub, a powerful search function, a secure members area, and high editorial usability, enabling efficient new content creation.
Centralized content hub with TYPO3
The website would have to be structured to serve both as an internal member portal and as an external communications platform for topics including politics, the media, and the general public, with clear differentiation between member content and public information, a media hub for press releases, and the integration of a members’ area with protected resources.
Streamlining of the information architecture
Restructuring the website in a user friendly way, including with clear visual hierarchies, filterable overview pages, and intuitive navigation delivering easy access to professional topics, committees and career-related information.
Accessibility and inclusion
A key objective was to ensure an accessible digital presence. As an association with a public mandate and political activities, BDP placed significant importance on inclusivity. This included adhering to WCAG guidelines (ex. contrasts, keyboard navigation, alt texts), clear and legible typography, and technical accessibility.
Modern presentation of association topics and specialist areas
Given that psychology is a broad field, the website would need to be designed to showcase over 20 specialist sections and deliver an overview of diverse fields of psychological work.
Editorial flexibility
Since BDP’s editorial team was small, but responsible for large amounts of new content, an editor-friendly system would have to be implemented that allows for efficient content management without technical expertise. Intuitive content models like accordions, table, and info boxes, along with flexible page layouts and dedicated templates were integral to this aspect of the new website.
Prototyping, Agile Development, and Comprehensive Strategy
Schaffrath sought to demonstrate their ability to strategically, creatively, and technically address the complex needs and requirements of associations and non-profit bodies. With BDP being an ideal example of successful collaboration leading to positive outcomes in the digital space.
The partnership between Schaffrath and BDP was characterized by an agile, collaborative approach that enabled a tailored solution for the association’s complex guidelines.
Structured project definition
The project began with a joint Project Model Canvas (PMC) workshop, where the BDP and Schaffrath teams set goals, aligned on expectations, and prioritized target groups. This process set the foundation for the rest of the project and allowed for a common vision of what needs to be accomplished.
Prototyping for user-centered design
Based on the workshop results, Schaffrath developed an interactive design prototype that both created visual guidelines and made user flows and content logic clear for all stakeholders. The needs of different target audiences were taken into consideration, with particular attention being paid to accessibility and adherence to the WCAG guidelines.
Agile development in TYPO3 sprints
Technical implementation took place over the course of several agile development sprints. BDP and Schaffrath teams maintained regular feedback loops, iteratively developing the new website, testing new modules, and optimizing existing ones.
Schaffrath’s certified TYPO3 developers ensured a high-performance, maintainable, and accessible implementation of TYPO3 v11 LTS. New requirements were integrated flexibly over the course of the project.
Future-Oriented Digital Platforms with TYPO3
Beyond implementation, Schaffrath also adopted a consulting role regarding information architecture, editorial workflows, and system extensions. The TYPO3 installation was completed with the future in mind, and taking future enhancements into account. These include additional languages, API integrations and subsites.
With the launch of the new website, BDP was able to benefit from a comprehensive overhaul of its digital presence, featuring a flexible, editor-friendly backend, significantly improved content management, and a more accessible interface for website visitors.
The success of the BDP project is a testament to both the expertise and thoroughness of Schaffrath’s work, along with the flexibility provided by TYPO3.
Are you interested in transforming your digital presence? Learn more about how TYPO3 enables brands to succeed.
Gallery & Features
