Overview
Context & impact
AHRQ.gov houses decades of research, tools, and policy guidance. Before the redesign, critical content was buried under inconsistent labels and nested menus. I led the effort to re‑architect the information architecture and design a new mega menu that still supports the site today.
Problem
Site search logs and stakeholder feedback told the same story: users couldn’t find what they needed. Navigation grew organically over time, creating duplicate paths, overlapping labels, and dead ends. Any change required manual updates across multiple menu locations.
- Create a navigation model that made sense to clinicians, policymakers, and patients.
- Give content owners a structure that could grow without breaking.
- Deliver a mega menu that was fully keyboard and screen reader accessible.
Approach
I treated the problem as both an IA and branding challenge: we weren’t just renaming links, we were clarifying what AHRQ stands for.
- Audited existing content and grouped it into task‑oriented clusters: “Find data,” “Use tools,” “Explore research,” etc.
- Ran card‑sorting and tree‑testing activities to validate potential structures with real users.
- Designed a three‑column mega menu that balanced featured content, stable anchors, and flexible sub‑links.
- Implemented the front‑end in Drupal, including ARIA roles, proper heading levels, and keyboard interactions.
Accessibility
The mega menu had to work for everyone, not just mouse users.
- Ensured the menu opened and closed predictably with keyboard navigation and Escape behavior.
- Used ARIA attributes to announce open/closed states and active sections to screen readers.
- Collaborated with the 508 office to validate behavior in JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver prior to launch.
Outcome
Better findability
Users reached core tools and data in fewer clicks with clearer labels.
Durable IA
The navigation model has supported new content and programs without major rewrites.
Accessible nav
The mega menu became a reference pattern for other HHS properties.