PRESS RELEASE

Redesigned site serves laboratory scientists and a public with growing interest in public health labs

BALTIMORE, MD (October 22, 2026)—The Association of Public Health Laboratories’ (APHL) redesigned website, aphl.org, has won two w3 Silver Awards, for Best User Experience and in the General Websites–Associations category. The awards were presented in the 2026 w3 Awards by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts. The site also earned a Silver Davey Award in the General–Associations category of the 2026 Davey Awards, which honor big ideas regardless of team size.

APHL is the national association representing state and local laboratories in the United States that serve the public’s health by monitoring and detecting health threats to protect Americans. Their core members are laboratories — public health, environmental, agricultural science, chemical, food safety and other related laboratories — known collectively as “public health laboratories.” APHL works domestically and globally with government partners such as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and organizational partners to ensure strong laboratory systems and to execute effective responses to health threats.

The COVID-19 pandemic put public health laboratories into public view more than ever before. The APHL website had to serve two very different groups: laboratory scientists looking for technical resources and training, and policymakers, reporters and members of the public trying to understand what labs do.

“During the pandemic, people who had never heard of a public health lab suddenly needed to understand what we do. At the same time, our members needed fast access to the technical resources behind their work,” said David Fouse, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at APHL. “The new site serves both. Lab staff can get to what they need, and the public can see how APHL member labs protect them.”

“This recognition reflects the work of our staff across APHL, who rethought how we share our science,” Fouse said. “The w3 judges how well a site works, and the Davey judges the strength of the idea behind it. Winning both shows that a site built for laboratories spoke to practicality and innovation. Astriata grounded every decision in evidence, and that mattered to an organization of scientists and public health professionals.”

The redesign started with research. More than 190 APHL staff and external users responded to surveys, and 132 people tested the proposed navigation before it was built. Users said they look for information by topic first, then by purpose, then by type of content. The site’s new navigation and resource hub are organized that way. Visitors can filter resources by topic, type and audience.

The site launched in April 2026. Pages tested scored 100 on Google Lighthouse accessibility checks. “Scientists expect evidence. We held the website to the same standard,” said Aline Lin, CEO of Astriata, the Baltimore-based digital experience agency that led the redesign. “We tested the new navigation with real users before we designed a single page. That’s how we knew it would work for a lab director and a fellow alike. The Davey rewards the thinking behind the work. For us, the big idea was simple. Ask the people who use the site, then build for their behavior and needs.”

Visit the site at aphl.org.