New Web Design

A new homepage is being launched in July, which will anchor a new look throughout the university's website. A collaborative project of the offices of information technology and public relations and publications, the new page is intended to convey a strong institutional identity while facilitating navigation and access to information. The new page--and templates for secondary pages--culminate months of development, which was guided by input from the campus community through student groups and classes, committee reviews, administrative review, and individual discussions.

"Augusta State's website is a vital source of news and information about the university, and the homepage provides a welcoming "front door" to the university," says President William A. Bloodworth, Jr. "The redesign will it easier for users to navigate and will better serve the campus and external community," he says.

"The website is one of the primary means through which the university presents itself to external and internal audiences," says Kathy Schofe, director of public relations and publications "In addition to serving campus needs, the internet is increasingly being used by prospective students and their parents, a growing number of alumni, businesses, donors, and others, looking for services and opportunities provided by the university. One of the key goals of the redesign is to provide the greatest degree of accessibility to information, both for current users and newcomers," she says.

The new design incorporates successful features from the previous design, such as the audience buttons for key constituencies: prospective students, current students, faculty and staff, and alumni and friends. This grouping allows users in the four groups to readily access information relevant to them.The popular A-Z subject index has been kept as has email and search functions.

A new component is the development of templates, which will allow campus users greater flexibility in creating and maintaining their own pages. "The proposed templates provide a set of tools that will allow technical and non-technical users to effectively manage, maintain, and change web site design and content," says Chip Matson, director of information technology services.

Templates not only provide a consistent look, which is important in marketing the university, it also solves many of the problems associated with fragmented sites that are designed for different, often incompatible browsers. "Unknowingly, web developers who are responsible for creating and/or maintaining unit pages may not know enough about structural markup, style sheets, and the importance of separating structure from presentation to create effective, optimal sites," Matson explains. The use of these templates eliminates the need for an indepth knowledge of web publishing standards and accessibility issues. Accessibility, he explains, is a key issue in web development, in which incompatible browsers can specifically hurt those with disabilities or special need.

The new homepage and templates were developed using a software called Dreamweaver, and information technology will begin offering training in the new software during fall semester. While the new template conveys a consistent look and feel to the pages, it allows maximum freedom to the page developer. Certain elements and navigation buttons are part of the template, yet the content, the use of one to three columns, photographs,and departmental navigation buttons are determined by the user.

"You can get an idea of what we're trying to accomplish by considering the webpage as a page in a book. There is consistency in the appearance--the chapter heading, page number, etc., but whatever is on the page--the content, photos, etc.--is at the discretion of the author," says Ms. Schofe.

Campus offices may use the templates in one of several ways. The templates can be downloaded by those who want to design and manage their own pages, working in conjunction with Information Technology, or Public Relations and Publications will provide design services, using the template, with the department/unit furnishing the content information.

"The template is the first step in creating an environment that can adapt to newer technologies," says Matson. "It will allow for easier updating of university pages, and will save the university time and money as we continue to develop the electronic domain."

"As we communicate about our work both internally and externally, it is crucial that we be both consistent and effective," says Ms. Schofe. "We ask all members of the university community to adopt the new identity program to ensure that our visual communications carry the institutional image that we have been able to portray in print. It is important that each site closely conveys a relationship to the university, adheres to standards of quality and professionalisms, and is accessible and user friendly."

This effort will require the cooperation of all colleges, divisions, and departments to ensure that the identity is used consistently and effectively and that pages remain current to reflect the recognition of Augusta State University being the region's outstanding public comprehensive university.

Please send your feedback on the new homepage (below) and templates to kschofe@aug.edu.