A lean team streamlines a sprawling digital presence

The solve

To address these demands, 16 DOH staff members across the communication team implemented Siteimprove's Governance, Accessibility, and Analytics modules. This marked a turning point—modernization became more achievable, and the platform’s privacy-conscious analytics and reporting tools empowered the team to prioritize their work, support stakeholders, and make confident, data-driven decisions about where to focus.

Armed with robust and reliable data, the team could finally determine what to tackle first, show leadership and stakeholders what was driving engagement, and focus limited resources where they would have the greatest impact. ‘The reporting features that show our leadership and staff the top-visited pages and documents helped drive areas of focus and maximize our limited resources,’ says Shirley Sakaye, director of communications at DOH. At the same time, the team identified which pages and documents were valuable, which could be archived, and which requests were preference-driven, ensuring work directly improved public access and reduced unnecessary maintenance.

Governance tools also helped the team respond faster to content changes across the site, from identifying terms that needed to be updated quickly to catching recurring errors and inconsistencies that ordinary checks might miss.

According to Julie Sanbei, publications specialist at DOH, actionable data have transformed not only the team’s website decisions but also the communications function's broader operations. "There are very few data-related decisions that we don’t attribute wholeheartedly to Siteimprove's insights," she says. "It has completely shifted how we think about what we do and what we prioritize. Where we once had to say, "trust me," we can now back up our campaigns and decisions with data."

Alongside these data-driven advancements, accessibility and inclusivity remained a top priority as the agency revamped its site. With Siteimprove's Accessibility module, the team identified and resolved issues affecting readability, structure, and document accessibility—while simultaneously fostering stronger habits and greater awareness over time.

"We have a great crew that understands why we focus on accessibility," Julie says. "It’s a huge part of our onboarding process for new communications team members, and we're also working to build broader awareness by sharing accessibility best practices across the department."

Together, these changes—reducing content sprawl, improving accessibility practices, and using data to guide decisions—culminated in a significantly improved digital experience for the public and a more manageable operating model for staff. Now, the site is easier to navigate, maintain, and better aligned with what users actually need, while the reduction in confusion directly lowered call and email volume to the front desk and webmaster inbox. This, in turn, saved staff time and gave leadership clearer insight into which content, campaigns, and resources were delivering results.

All of that adds up to enhanced constituent trust in the agency and the vital information it provides — and explains why Alaska DOH is a Top 5 User of Siteimprove.