The Mandated Reporter Training (MRT) platform is a heavily accessed website that offers training curriculum focused on child abuse mandated reporting for a variety of professionals, as well as the general public.
The previous MRT site was fragmented, sending users to several unique websites to access trainings, followed by a survey-style exam, and certificates of completion emailed to the user. The entire process was inefficient and difficult to navigate, not mention outdated, inaccessible and non-responsive, causing a poor user experience. Additionally, users were not afforded an account in which to store their training progress, histories or certificates. This proved to be a management issue for the CDSS team, as a number of support hours were dedicated to searching exam data and recreating certificates of completion.
The first issue was clear, MRT needed a Learning Management System (LMS). An LMS is a content delivery and management platform, responsible for the delivery, organization, and tracking of SCORM-compliant educational material.
You might be asking yourself, what does SCORM mean? SCORM stands for “Sharable Content Object Reference Model.” It’s a reference model that defines standards for constructing online training content so that it can be easily shared across systems. This makes it easy to create, share, and purchase content without needing to modify it for compatibility. Utilizing SCORM-compliant courses allows the Mandated Reporter Training course player to track user interactions, communicate and store that information in the LMS.
In addition to providing learners with access to training and account management, the LMS also provides users in administrative roles with tools for content management and data reporting, addressing the management issue the support team faced as well as the allowing the opportunity to analyze data on specific learners, curriculum and time frames.
An equally important issue to resolve was improving the overall user experience on the site.
In addition to making obvious improvements, such as uniting the platform to a single website and allowing the website to be responsive (consumable at various resolutions on multiple devices), our team analyzed the audiences visiting the site to create persona based experiences. This allows learners to self identify with a persona (ie a school teacher, a child care provider, a volunteer) and follow a path to find trainings tailored to their professions. Trainings were also organized into a linear and predictable curriculum path, so users would know exactly what's ahead and how far until certification, storing history in the user's learner account along the way.
Accessibility was also a key requirement from CDSS. The Mandated Reporter Training site includes advanced functionality allowing visitors with disabilities to view the site in alternative ways, making the content easier to access and view. Site users can toggle between site colors and high contrast colors, increase and decrease the font size, as well as translate the site into a number of languages. MRT also follows Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and best practices.
Finally, MRT is a public-facing website that receives a high volume of daily traffic throughout the state of California, issuing nearly 200,000 certificates in the first year, with over 300,000 registered users.
The new Mandated Reporter Training platform expedites, simplifies, and standardizes training and certification processes, of which CDSS was desperately in need.