UI and Accessibility Updates – March 2023

We’ve made enhancements to the GO Smart applicant and admin portals. Read on for a comprehensive list of these changes and some recommended actions. We suggest that you log in to your applicant portal and review the contents of your site as well as the contents of your applications and forms so that you can be aware of these changes and make any desired modifications.

If you create custom directive text, buttons, or resources for your applicants, they will likely need updating. We recommend linking to our applicant resources which are continuously updated as changes are made to the site. Finally, we strongly encourage you to clear your browser cache and to suggest this to your applicants as well.

Table of Contents

• Applicant Portal Changes
  • Login Pages and Tools
  • Global / Home Page 
  • Grant Applications & Forms Page
  • Application and Form Pages
• Admin Portal Changes
  • Login Pages and Tools
  • Global / Home Page
  • Profile Editor
  • Navigation Editor
  • Custom Report Labels
• Coming Soon!
  • RegistrationPage

Applicant Portal Changes: 

Login Pages and Tools

• • Login page refreshed
  • “Forgot Username and Password” tools moved to unique pages
  • Forgot Username email contains all usernames and passwords at all sites for that email address

Global / Home Page Changes

• • New “Log In, Create New Account, and Log Out” buttons are located in the top right corner
  • Site displays white background for accessibility purposes
  • “Current Programs & Applications” page now called “Grant Applications & Forms”
  • Navigation (resource) pages are under a single “Additional Resources” tab with a drop-down menu
  • “Tech Tips” now called “Help Center” and linked in the bottom right footer

Grant Applications & Forms Page (previously Current Programs & Applications)

• • Cycle boxes’ fonts and layouts have increased for better accessibility
  • Cycle names located in top left corner; applicant statuses are displayed in top right corner if applicant has accessed that cycle
  • “Program Description and Message” displayed in separate white boxes — field(s) and headers will no longer display if you do not create content for that field
  • Contents are parsed into three columns: “Dates & Deadlines, Actions, and View” 
    • Dates & Deadlines display all dates selected on the back end
      • Past dates and deadlines appear in dark gray
      • Deadlines approaching in 72 hours or less appear in red
      • Future dates and deadlines appear in black
      • Each date is displayed at the selected time in your agency’s time zone
    • Action Buttons
      • All possible actions will be displayed here with appropriate buttons
        • “START” buttons appear in Teal
        • “EDIT” buttons appear in Yellow
        • Buttons for each form of the cycle are labeled with the form name (i.e., Start Intent to Apply, Edit Interim Report) EXCEPT for the Application form buttons, which simply say “START” or “EDIT” 
      • Cycles allowing more than one submission per applicant are indicated by additional help text and include an additional teal “Apply Again” button — visible after the applicant has begun their first application
      • Applicants will see a note that the cycle is not available to them when: 
        • The cycle is visible but the open date has not yet arrived
        • Applicant has missed the first deadline
        • Applicant has submitted a final version of a form and they are awaiting action from the granting agency (i.e., approval, funding, etc.)
    • View
      • All read-only forms neatly defined and labeled
      • Applicants can preview an application if the cycle is visible before the Open deadline occurs
      • Applicants will see a “nothing to view” note if they do not access the cycle before the deadline

Application and Form Pages

• • Table of Contents box displays to the left of the page and can be closed while applicants work on the page
  • Questions are stacked above the response field
  • Date fields are date pickers
  • Required items have a (required) label instead of the red asterisk for better accessibility
  • When applicants click “Save Work,” the page highlights any unanswered required questions
  • Save and Next button replaced the “Next” button on each page to help ensure applicants save before advancing
  • Link to “Did I Complete this Page?” has been removed from custom narrative pages
  • Applicants will see unanswered required questions if they click “Save Work” rather than “Save and Next”
  • Final pages of each form are called the Submission Page
  • Submission pages display a “Save and Keep Working” button and a “Save and Submit” button and no longer display a “Final Version” radio or checkbox. When applicants click Save and Keep Working, they will see a success message that all is saved and they can continue to work. If they click “Save and Submit,” the form is submitted and they see your custom Form Confirmation text.
  • If a draft review is available, the applicant will see optional Draft review submission text and a “Save and Submit Draft” button above the regular Save buttons and optional submission text

Admin Portal Changes: 

Login Pages and Tools

• Login page refreshed
• “Forgot Username and Password” tools moved to unique pages
• Forgot Username email contains all usernames and passwords at all sites for that email address

Global / Home Page

• • GO Smart logo is darker for better contrast and accessibility 
  • “Log in and Log Out” buttons are located in the upper right corner
  • Site displays white background for accessibility purposes
  • “Help” is called “Help Center” and linked in the bottom right footer

Profile Editor

• • Addition of 501c3 and FEIN fields to allow for your custom settings when “Enhanced Profile” setting is on and your applicant selects Organization

Navigation Editor

• • Navigation page titles are limited to 50 characters 
  • Navigation page editor no longer includes “Footnote, Image, and Align” fields; content in those fields has been incorporated into the “Body”

Custom Report Labels

• • Labels are updated and reordered to reflect upcoming changes to the “Profile Registration” page

Coming Soon! Updated Registration Page

• “New to the site? Click Here to create a new profile” link will be removed from the home page
• The terms of service will be incorporated into the registration page and will no longer exist as a standalone page.
• We are refreshing the format of the registration page
• All fields and requirement settings will remain the same except for the following three fields, which will be removed:
  • Salutations
  • Title
  • Fax
• Applicants will see clear error messaging when required fields are left unanswered