Hello Forums Community, The Marketing and Communicatio...

[Zoe7]

Absolutely agree @Gwynn It is so frustrating having that 'banner' drop down when you are typing - it takes up so much of the page and makes it difficult to navigate around. I have logged off many times after getting frustrated with that 'banner' - just not worth the frustration 😠 It is also frustrating that the very large community here were not consulted in all these changes - it is a very big part of the disillusionment that I currently feel with the forums as a whole. Hopefully in the future this will change - and I am seeing small changes in this regard - but it does not take away from the exclusion I feel we have been treated with as a community in this new design. As with you, I also have not seen any changes nor replies to questions I have asked elsewhere and that further leads to a feeling of being ignored when we have been asked to comment on such changes.

[Gwynn]

Thanks @tyme .

If SANE was building a community centre from the ground up, SANE would never consider not having wheelchair/pram access to the community centre, or even dream of not having a toilet that someone in a wheelchair could use if they needed.  Website accessibility is another accommodation that some people with disabilities need to get information and to participate freely in the web space, and it can make websites better for everyone.

I would like to see enhancing or maintaining web accessibility be part of the basic, baseline, no-frills brief for future SANE website upgrades.  Can you please get this baked into whatever documentation will be left to the SANE staff in 5 or 10 years time, when they have to redesign the site again?

It just kinda hurts, because I am told by peers and community elders that I make good comments and provide good support to other people on the forum, but I feel unwelcome here when I see the flyouts - particularly when people keep telling me that they 'hear me', but we're stuck with a website that I can barely use.  Like, where's the SEEK advertisement from SANE looking for a web accessibility expert?  Can we, the community, be looped in on the practical plan here?

I know it's not your intention, and I know progress is slow, but it just sucks. It also sucks that I have to advocate in this way for something that I really thought Maguire, who sued the Sydney Olympic Committee about their Olympics tickets website had won for me, 22 years ago. 

[TAB]

My 2 cents worth

Hi , i have an old phone and am in poor signal area particularly with data as cannot afford/there is no broadband outside of a few areas and for people with a fixed address. 
i was surprised this week when working had full signal on 4G (was 100m from tower)  which is way more than normal and this site was still taking several attempts to load messages???

its a bit like having a soup kitchen that only accepts Mercedes drivers?? Seems not fit for purpose ?? Or are people with MH issues all well off these days and have top notch $'000 phones and brand new computers w super fast broadband??

[TAB]

As I have said in the past half the keystrokes in attempting a post can be wasted, doing things unintentionally like turning on italics and bold as page still loading seems. Another one is how drop down menus cant be seen on phone so you are guessing it worked until it's posted. I dont tag many people at once anymore as it gets so frustrating trying to get tags to work. Then dont want to say much, just get whats left of post 'live' and walk away..

[TAB]

 example of tagging attempt today. Just frustrating , makes me upset and not want to use site as much as may have

[Peregrinefalcon]

Hey team, first of all I really want to apologise for the time taken to reply. There have been a few shifts within the team here and I hope that, moving forward, things can be responded to in a much more cohesive way.

@Zoe7 @TAB @Gwynn You raise some excellent points. This is a learning point for us to always be consulting and making sure that the lifeblood of the Forums - our members and community guides - are having their say in what happens. After all, the Forums wouldn't exist without you.

The last thing we want is for the Forums to be less accessible.

I am new to the Community Manager role myself and ask for your patience as I try to figure out how we can go about potentially fixing features that are not working properly/effectively.

Thank you all so much for taking the time and effort to engage with this thread 💛 

[Zoe7]

Hi @Peregrinefalcon I appreciate the position you are in with taking on this new role whilst @GrevilleaBlooms is away. I also appreciate that sometimes these 'fixes' are not able to be achieved immediately.

I do need to highlight this comment "This is a huge learning for us to always be consulting and making sure that the lifeblood of the Forums - our members and community guides - are having their say in what happens. After all, the Forums wouldn't exist without you" as this is where my continued frustration lies. The community were NOT consulted with these changes and whilst I do see this changing in small ways now - it is more a matter of 'the horse has already bolted'. I do know this is not the fault of those in charge here but was an outside agency. This makes me further wonder what their brief was and if they were actually equipped to conduct this reform. It is quite obvious that they did not understand the community being affected by these changes - and as I have said on many occasions - with over 32,000 members, I would have thought the community would have been consulted in such major changes that affect US.

I am also further frustrated that questions on this consultation that I raised earlier (a page back) have also not been answered. I continue to raise these questions for transparency and so those of us affected here (the forum members) can see the research/consultation groups behind these changes.

[Peregrinefalcon]

Hey @Zoe7!

Once again thank you for your thoroughness with outlining exactly what isn't working and what we could do better with moving forward.

I truly apologise for the delay in getting back to your original concerns and want to let you know that I have raised your questions with our marketing and communications team. I am yet to hear back, but will keep you in the loop when I do. 

I appreciate all that you do here Zoe7 and hope I can help 🦋💜

Kind regards

Peregrinefalcon

[Zoe7]

Thank you for responding @Peregrinefalcon and also asking those questions on my behalf with the marketing and communications team. I appreciate it.

[Gwynn]

I’d like to know why this was the province of the marketing team, surely there should have been someone from the equity and diversity squad?