As part of the planning process for the CISAT Departmental Redesign Project, the staff of CISAT Creative Services spent many hours looking at Higher Education websites from around the world to determine trends in web development.
We looked at sites to evaluate not only the visual aspect but also looked at such elements as how content was arranged, how much continuity there was in the overall design between departments and whether the programming met federally mandated accessibility standards. We also considered such things as how the sites rendered in different browsers, how long pages took to load and how easy the site was to navigate. Another consideration was how other universities incorporated social networking into their sites to keep their users 'connected'. The challenge we face as a public university is to be compliant with ADA regulations while presenting relevant content in a visually satisfying 'readable' format. In other words, how do we make our sites look fresh and exciting and usable for everyone regardless of physical limitations?
Some of the college sites we reviewed met this challenge better than others did. Below are listed a few of our particular favorite sites and reasons why we liked them best. There were several sites that include parts that we both liked and disliked. You can download a longer list (PDF) of sites we felt met the criteria.
Longwood University - http://www.longwood.edu/
This is a good example of a well coded site from a technical point of view that still manages to be visually appealing and usable. As another public university they managed to successfully incorporate accessibility compliance with modern website features.
Champlain College - http://www.champlain.edu/
This site used color and different size fonts effectively to arrange information nicely. Lower level sites were consistent with the main site. They all seemed to 'fit' together but were distinctive.
Saxion - http://www.saxion.edu/programmes/
We really liked the simplicity of this website's design. There's plenty of white space, and the design extends to fit any size window. A favorite part is the use of color to differentiate between areas of the site. (About Saxion, Programmes, and Study at Saxion)
We looked at sites to evaluate not only the visual aspect but also looked at such elements as how content was arranged, how much continuity there was in the overall design between departments and whether the programming met federally mandated accessibility standards. We also considered such things as how the sites rendered in different browsers, how long pages took to load and how easy the site was to navigate. Another consideration was how other universities incorporated social networking into their sites to keep their users 'connected'. The challenge we face as a public university is to be compliant with ADA regulations while presenting relevant content in a visually satisfying 'readable' format. In other words, how do we make our sites look fresh and exciting and usable for everyone regardless of physical limitations?
Some of the college sites we reviewed met this challenge better than others did. Below are listed a few of our particular favorite sites and reasons why we liked them best. There were several sites that include parts that we both liked and disliked. You can download a longer list (PDF) of sites we felt met the criteria.
Longwood University - http://www.longwood.edu/
This is a good example of a well coded site from a technical point of view that still manages to be visually appealing and usable. As another public university they managed to successfully incorporate accessibility compliance with modern website features.
Champlain College - http://www.champlain.edu/
This site used color and different size fonts effectively to arrange information nicely. Lower level sites were consistent with the main site. They all seemed to 'fit' together but were distinctive.
Saxion - http://www.saxion.edu/programmes/
We really liked the simplicity of this website's design. There's plenty of white space, and the design extends to fit any size window. A favorite part is the use of color to differentiate between areas of the site. (About Saxion, Programmes, and Study at Saxion)
