Improved graphics and navigation are the first things users will notice as the revamped UAA presence debuts. The result of 8 months of research, design and construction, a key feature of the new web environment is the introduction of a content management system (CMS).
The CMS makes the tools available to a wider range of potential content providers. The system gives virtually anyone the ability to author web pages and post them to the UAA web site. While learning the CMS requires some minimal training to use in its most basic form, it also allows more advanced users to build pages rich in graphics and content. Navigation in the new site is more intuitive, but also features links that give the user familiar with UAA the ability to find specific departments or programs by following the structural links.
Also available are links related to a web users role in the institution. The use of the content management system begins with “institutional” web pages. These are the most frequently visited within the current web space.
Several units are migrating their content to the CMS in preparation for the rollout of the new site. Over the coming 12-18 months, additional pages will become part of the CMS as training and use expands throughout UAA.
A web project team from a number of campus entities began the process of page redesign by reviewing the current page, researching a wide variety of university sites around the country and surveying current users.
The team quickly recognized that web use is a very personal thing. Staff and faculty surveys indicated a wide variety of preferences for navigation and web page look and feel. At the same time, the importance of easily found content is the single most important factor to most users.
Users want content that is current, updated frequently and found in the way they choose to navigate the site. Navigation is perhaps the most difficult item to agree on for users. It depends on many variables. The new UAA site is designed to accommodate the most popular navigational styles.
Critical to the marketing success of UAA is its ability to “brand” the university. This effort includes creating a consistent look and feel throughout the UAA web site. The new web projects the standard look and feel throughout the UAA web environment, insuring the users know they are on a UAA page and improving the UAA brand. The site also incorporates the web policies developed by the UAA Web Board over the past two academic years.
