Developing a Successful Cyber Image (Part 2)

When planning your school’s website, Brian Hoke of Bentley & Hoke, LLC has several recommendations.

1.      A clear statement of who is to be in charge of the project.

2.      Realize that the project will demand significant amounts of time from school staff.

3.      Be sure that one of the first steps of the project is an examination of the needs of all intended audiences and the construction of an appropriate architecture for the site.

4.      Is the graphic design of the site to be the cart or the horse?

5.      Insist on user testing, and make sure that the testing comes early in the project lifecycle.

6.      Think about your content management needs.

7.      Consider setting standards for the way the site’s code will be built.

In his web article, How to Plan Your School’s Website, Robert Kennedy provides a large number of tips for those designing school websites. Some of the more relevant to all schools include:

1.      Keeping it simple. The school’s webpage should have an intuitive navigation bar so your visitors can get around easily and quickly find the information they need.

2.      Make it load fast. Eliminate slow loading graphics or fancy flash pages to make the site more accessible and appealing. Also, make any audio and optional extra.

3.      Have it designed professionally (in-house or out) and include the use of public relations. Have an understanding and knowledge of who the school is trying to reach, what the present constituency is, and what the target audience for the future might be.

4.      Safety considerations. Don’t expose students to unnecessary risk. This includes very careful consideration of any use of student pictures.

5.      Avoid garish colours for background and/or text. Avoid looking amateurish by providing illegible information.

6.      Keep your site fresh and up to date. Nothing looks more stagnant than information that has not been relevant in years.

References

Hoke, B. P., Planning your school’s website, retrieved from http://privateschool.about.com/od/consultants1/qt/websiterfp.htm on October 19^th, 2012.

Kennedy, R., How to plan your school’s website, retrieved from http://privateschool.about.com/od/consultants1/ht/websites.htm on October 20^th, 2012.