Tla’amin Nation
The Challenge
Tla’amin Nation came to Boleyn to rethink its government website and create a more accessible, intuitive way for community members to find information, access services, and understand the work of their government. The existing site presented particular challenges on mobile, while the depth and complexity of government information made it difficult for users to quickly find what they needed. The new website needed to simplify this experience while giving staff an intuitive platform for managing frequent updates and content. It also needed to reflect Tla’amin Nation’s identity, teachings, and language, supporting communication grounded in their principle of “One Heart, One Mind, One Nation.”
The Tactics
We took a user-centred approach that considered both the needs of community members and the staff responsible for maintaining the site. From information architecture and accessibility to advanced search, development, and content migration, each element was designed to make a complex government website easier to use and maintain.
Strategic Foundations
We began by understanding Tla’amin Nation’s audiences, goals, brand, content, and technical requirements, establishing a clear foundation for the site’s structure, content strategy, and functionality. We then migrated and reorganized historic content, working with the Nation to determine what should be retained, updated, or removed.
Intuitive Navigation
A robust sitemap, mega navigation, breadcrumbs, and Quick Links help users navigate a large volume of government information and quickly find the services and resources they need.
Accessible, Flexible Design
We designed with WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility guidelines in mind, including typography that supports the special characters and syllabics used in ʔayʔaǰuθəm. The site was built as a custom WordPress block theme with flexible templates and intuitive content management tools, giving Tla’amin Nation staff the ability to confidently maintain and expand the site.
Rich, Connected Search
We implemented SearchWP to create a powerful search experience across pages, custom post types, PDFs, and metadata. AI-powered relevance ranking helps users find the most useful information within a large and continually growing content library, while extensive testing and quality assurance ensured a smooth experience across devices and platforms.
The Results
The new Tla’amin Nation website provides a more accessible and intuitive digital experience for community members, while giving staff the tools to manage a complex government website with confidence. Enhanced search, clear navigation, Quick Links, digital forms, and a mobile-friendly experience make information and services easier to access, while the flexible WordPress foundation supports future growth. The result is a digital platform designed around the needs of the Nation, its people, and its government, with Tla’amin identity, language, and community at the centre.
Website Performance
15%
Increase in engagement time
39%
Increase in search ranking
12%
Increase in search visitor growth
“Boleyn has been an incredible technical and thinking partner for Tla’amin Nation as we reshape our online presence to reflect a modern treaty nation.
For many people, a website is the first place they come to understand who we are, and getting that right matters. The team has guided us in growing our site from 35 to more than 140 pages, strengthening transparency, accountability, and how understandable we are to our citizens and others. This digital re-introduction will serve the Nation well for many years to come.”
Davis mckenzie, director of communications
Tla’amin Nation
