Static but not Boring – Making Data Services Visible on the Web

In late 2018 the Finnish Social Science Data Archive launched its redesigned website. The new site aims to be hip, modern, accessible, interactive, and secure. For that end, instead of any popular content management systems, we chose to build a static website. Our solution is built on Hugo static site generator and an Electron-based helper tool. All content is pushed to a version control system. The validity of the code is monitored and published a change set by change set. To enhance interactivity we have built “reactive flyers” – little components which are capable of displaying live data as figures or charts – that can be embedded as elements in the website. The new framework is a combination of in-house and outsourced web development resources, and partly developed also as a student project.

This poster includes a demonstration of the website and addresses some of the challenges related to setting up a dedicated content management system, repurposing the operational data which we routinely collect, and making a best effort to conform to accessibility guidelines. Attendees will learn about this do-it-yourself solution from a technical and communications perspective.