Operation Lifesaver unveils redesigned website to reach new audiences with rail safety messages
WASHINGTON, DC, November 4, 2010 – Operation Lifesaver Inc., the national, non-profit rail safety education group, today unveiled its redesigned website (www.oli.org) to reach new audiences and further its mission of preventing tragic deaths and injuries around train tracks. The dynamic site design uses videos, photographs and stories of real families to ensure that visitors come away with a safety message.
“We want to attract audiences of all ages with compelling videos and real stories of people who have been affected by train-related incidents,” noted Operation Lifesaver President Helen Sramek. “Our goal is to communicate the critical importance of safe behavior around tracks. Getting these messages across really is a matter of life and death.”
The site was designed by NewCity of Blacksburg, VA. (www.insidenewcity.com)
“The design incorporates our vision for a website that makes an immediate impression on first-time visitors while improving navigation for our existing audiences,” noted Sramek. “The NewCity team succeeded in transforming the look of Operation Lifesaver’s website while incorporating the latest video and social media tools,” she said.
New features on the website include:
• Rotating scenarios on the home page illustrating the statistic that about every three hours in the U.S., a vehicle or person is hit by a train.
• A new “impact” section with real stories from people whose lives have forever been changed by vehicle- or pedestrian-train incidents.
• A new “videos” section that allows visitors to view and share Operation Lifesaver’s newest public service announcements and excerpts from safety and training videos.
• Simplified navigation through six main categories, and “quick links” to popular pages from the home page.
Major funding for the redesign comes from a Federal Railroad Administration grant. “We are grateful to our safety partners at the Federal Railroad Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation for making this redesign possible,” Sramek concluded.
About Operation Lifesaver
Operation Lifesaver, Inc. is a national, non-profit safety education group whose goal is to eliminate deaths and injuries at railroad crossings and along railroad rights of way. Operation Lifesaver has programs in all 50 states, with trained and certified presenters who provide free safety talks to community groups, school bus drivers, truck drivers and student drivers to raise awareness around railroad tracks and trains. For more information, and to request a free safety presentation, visit www.oli.org.
About NewCity
NewCity creates interactive web design, integrated online marketing campaigns, video, print, collateral, identity and branding, and e-commerce experiences that blur the lines between the interactive and real world. For more information, visit www.insidenewcity.com.