[Chicago Park District](/project/chicago-park-district) --------------------------------------------------------- Submitted by Thomas Hafner on Thu, 01/29/2026 - 19:17 Project Category [Parks & Recreation](/taxonomy/term/11) [Ecommerce](/taxonomy/term/46) [Government & Public Sector](/taxonomy/term/1) Project Image Image ![Website displayed on multiple devices including desktop monitor, laptop, tablet, and smartphone](https://cp-portfolio.acquia.site/sites/default/files/styles/large_w1024/public/2026-03/Chicago_Park_District_featured_image.png.webp?itok=yNP6IVUv) Target Audience Park Users Technology [Drupal](/taxonomy/term/21) [Acquia](/taxonomy/term/26) [AI](/taxonomy/term/96) Description The Chicago Park District is the largest municipal park system in the nation, overseeing more than 600 parks, 26 miles of lakefront, and hundreds of cultural and recreational programs that serve millions of residents and visitors each year. Over a multi-year partnership, Clarity supported CPD's evolving digital needs through a comprehensive set of capabilities, from large-scale website modernization and eCommerce integration to accessibility, AI-assisted content tools, mobile experiences, and ongoing security and compliance. Together, these efforts created a resilient, inclusive, and future-ready digital ecosystem that supports CPD's mission at citywide scale. Link [Chicago Park District](https://chicagoparkdistrict.com) Short Project Description Multi-year digital partnership modernizing CPD’s website, eCommerce, accessibility, mobile tools, and security at citywide scale. Project Duration 2011 to Present Project Services [Website Design & Development](/taxonomy/term/36) [Accessibility Remediation](/taxonomy/term/106) [Responsive Design](/taxonomy/term/111) [UX & Graphic Design](/taxonomy/term/101) Accordion Display Field 1 | Website Redesign and Modernization -------------------------------------- Clarity delivered continuous digital evolution for the Chicago Park District (CPD), securing a future-proof platform through strategic, multi-version Drupal modernization. We managed the entire lifecycle, from the initial open-source replatforming (Drupal 8) to the latest Drupal 11 redesign, ensuring seamless performance and long-term stability. This sustained partnership reduced risk and empowered CPD to focus on its mission of serving the public. Our latest redesign focused entirely on the user experience (UX) and engagement. Based on thousands of user survey responses, we implemented simplified navigation, mobile-first layouts, and stronger visual branding. This strategic content reorganization and design refresh successfully migrated thousands of pages while maximizing the promotion of CPD's programs, parks, and events to residents across all devices. ### Key Outcomes & Expertise: - Sustained platform stability across Drupal 8, 9, 10, and 11 versions. - Design refreshed using data from thousands of user surveys. - Simplified navigation and mobile-first layouts to boost engagement. - Successful migration and reorganization of thousands of content pages. 2 | eCommerce and Program Registration -------------------------------------- The Chicago Park District (CPD) faced the challenge of managing massive public demand for program registration, permits, and event tickets using an aging and inefficient process. Clarity solved this by designing and implementing a secure, scalable eCommerce system that seamlessly connected the public-facing website to the critical ActiveNet registration platform. This strategic integration established a unified shopping cart interface, enabling residents to transact for all park services easily and ensuring reliability during peak registration periods. This high-performance eCommerce system streamlines CPD's operations and secures vital revenue. The system successfully manages over 200,000 annual transactions, generating more than $200 million in park revenue, which demonstrates its robust and secure foundation. The scalable architecture also effectively handles high-demand event ticketing, such as for the popular Night Out in the Parks series, maximizing public engagement and service delivery. Clarity further leveraged ActiveNet by using their native APIs to pull in programs and events to display on park pages in the primary Drupal website, improving the overall user experience. ### Key Outcomes & Expertise: - ActiveNet integration for secure, real-time program and class registration. - Manages over 200,000 annual transactions, generating $200M in park revenue. - Delivered a single shopping cart interface for all park services (classes, permits, tickets). - Scalable platform successfully supports high-demand event features such as "Night Out in the Parks." - Leveraging ActiveNet API integration to display relevant programs and events within the primary website park pages. 3 | Accessibility and Inclusive Design -------------------------------------- The Chicago Park District (CPD) faced the critical challenge of ensuring its high-traffic public website was fully accessible and inclusive for all residents, in line with mandates for digital equity. Early in the account's evolution, Clarity prioritized accessibility by engaging with groups like the Smart Chicago user group to gather real-world feedback. This partnership established accessibility as a central, evolving requirement throughout the multi-year modernization effort. Clarity methodically brought the website into full compliance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. The solution involved detailed technical implementation, including enforcing consistent color contrast, establishing proper semantic structure, and ensuring accurate ARIA labeling. This commitment to inclusive design resulted in a public platform that is not only robust and modern but also legally compliant and equitable, ensuring every resident can access programs, events, and essential services regardless of their device or ability. ### Key Accessibility Outcomes: - Achieved full compliance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. - Prioritized accessibility via feedback from the Smart Chicago user group. - Implemented technical controls for consistent color contrast and semantic structure. - Delivered a public-facing platform that is fully inclusive and equitable for all users. 4 | AI-Assisted Outcomes: Discovery Synthesis and Alt Text Generation --------------------------------------------------------------------- When CPD decided to engage in a full redesign in 2024, it partnered with Clarity to gather thousands of survey responses from Chicago residents and Park District employees, benchmarking against multiple peer sites, years of data from Google Analytics, dozens of stakeholder interviews, and a five-year strategic plan report. To glean actionable direction and clear priorities from this massive amount of source data, Clarity used AI to synthesize, align, and sort this data into a clear and understandable report for project team members and executives, providing strong direction for the next iteration of site design and functional changes. CPD also faced a massive bottleneck in ensuring compliance and rich metadata for thousands of images across its events and programs. Manual alt text authoring was slow and inconsistent, hampering publishing speed. Clarity solved this challenge by developing and implementing a custom AI-based alt text generation tool directly integrated into the CMS. This innovative solution fully automates descriptions for thousands of images. The strategic use of AI results in a dramatic reduction in manual authoring time for the content team, simultaneously ensuring higher technical consistency. This dual approach not only accelerated accessibility compliance but also enriched image metadata, providing a foundation for stronger SEO performance and scalable content publishing. ### Key AI Outcomes and Efficiency: - AI-generated Discovery report based on multiple feedback and data sources that provided foundational project design and development guidance. - Developed an AI-based alt text generation tool for accessibility efficiency. - Automated descriptions for thousands of images across CPD content. - Reduced manual authoring time and increased content consistency. - Improved compliance and enriched image metadata for stronger SEO performance. 5 | Responsive Website for Events --------------------------------- The Chicago Park District (CPD) needed to expand its reach and improve public access to thousands of dynamic events, programs, and facility locations beyond the main website. Relying solely on the desktop-focused site limited spontaneous engagement and real-time user interaction. This challenge required a specialized, fast-loading solution optimized for users actively seeking information outside their homes. Clarity solved this by developing and maintaining the website to be responsive across different screen sizes. The website does not simply "shrink down" to a smartphone-sized screen - the layout shifts to mimic a mobile application with colorful tabs for the major engagement areas people are looking for. This strategy successfully expanded CPD's digital reach, enabling residents to find events on the go and increasing overall participation in park activities. ### Key Responsive Outcomes: - Launched a responsively designed website. - Featured real-time event listings and essential park locations. - Successfully expanded digital reach, targeting users actively searching for things to do. - Provided an easy, fast solution for residents to find events on the go. 6 | Web Security and Compliance ------------------------------- Managing a high-traffic public platform like the Chicago Park District (CPD) website requires continuous, rigorous attention to web security to protect user data and maintain public trust. The challenge involves constantly defending against vulnerabilities and ensuring strict compliance with evolving government security standards. Clarity implemented necessary security measures to protect the platform's integrity and safeguard the thousands of daily transactions and user interactions. Clarity ensures site integrity through ongoing measures, including implementing secure Drupal configurations to protect transactions and sensitive data. We implement a proactive defense strategy that includes regular patching, module updates, and continuous vulnerability monitoring. This commitment ensures CPD's digital platform remains compliant with industry best practices and government security standards, providing a reliable and trusted experience for all residents. ### Key Security Outcomes and Practices: - Implemented secure Drupal configurations to protect user data and transactions. - Applied continuous measures: regular patching, module updates, and vulnerability monitoring. - Ensured compliance with industry best practices and government security standards. - Maintained site integrity and protected public trust through proactive defense.