The Wisconsin Department of Transportation web site was five years old when it got redesigned. I was one half of the "technical team," which means I co-developed the templates and style sheets, supported the authors, and helped the staff understand how professional sites were developed. I designed the navigational model and delivered two weeks of training to 35 web authors on my own. Primarily, my job was to keep the executives from getting themselves in trouble with their own ideas of what the site should be.
The final site was designed to be accessible, usable, and attractive. It abides by Federal 508 accessibility standards, looks great in 800x600 with fourth generation browsers (Netscape 4.x and up), and degrades like a champ in older browsers. It even incorporates a printable style sheet so information on the right won't get cut out, and is very readable.
Because the tech team controlled the templates, style sheets, standards and guidelines, as well as the training, we ended up being the gatekeepers of the site. Standardization allowed us to show that authors needed to see the site as a whole before making changes to "their stuff," thus keeping the site consistent throughout despite three dozen authors with different visions of the site.
My work on this site earned an WisDOT Administrator's Award in December, 2002.