When I was in Grade 2, our class went on a field trip to see a computer. This was not the type of computer we use today. It filled a room, and we used the dot-matrix printer much to our excitement. We could bring that paper home to show our parents.   

Little did we know then as children how computers would evolve and impact the way we receive information. There was no talk of misinformation or disinformation. We trusted the Canadian media as our source of truth.   

As a former journalist, it’s sad to see mainstream media disappearing. Most recently, Bell Media announced more layoffs and Corus closed the doors of 880 AM in our city. We have a smaller pool of where we can obtain news and many people rely on social media, which can’t be considered reliable or trustworthy.   

My role at the Jewish Federation of Edmonton aims to guarantee our community can utilize our communication mediums as your way to find out information that you need, whether it be about programming, advocacy, or what is happening in Israel. We also set out in the 2022-25 strategic plan to have a strong communications brand and presence. One of these communication channels is our website and we want to ensure that you are getting the essential information from it as well as making it as accessible as possible and meeting Canadian standards. 

How are we going to accomplish this? Thankfully, the Federation received a provincial grant to redesign our website, but we need your help. We’re looking for 15 to 20 people who represent a diverse cross-section of our community—newcomers, teenagers, young adults, seniors, etc. We also want those who may have hearing or vision issues to test the accessibility. 

These volunteers would fill out a survey and meet on Zoom between July 22 and 31 to inform us of what content works on the website, what is missing, and how easy or difficult information is to find. This data would then help redesign the website. Before launching the new website in late 2025, we may reach out to them again to test it. 

This is vital work as our website sees an average of 2,000 users per month. The most popular pages include our community calendar, the weekly Shabbat message, and Hakol stories. If you want to make an impact on our source of truth, please email info@edjfed.org with your contact information, age, and why you are interested in this project. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Tammy