ACC’s redesigned website drew a positive response from more than 90 percent of the almost 400 students, faculty, and staff who previewed the site and offered feedback.

The new design and navigational structure will replace current top-level webpages when the new site is launched November 11.

“Change is never easy, but the survey indicates our students and employees are excited about the new student-focused website,” says Interim Provost Dr. Enrique Solis. “We received valuable feedback that will ensure the site achieves its primary purpose of supporting student enrollment, retention, and completion goals.”

The web development team conducted the collegewide survey between Sept. 30 and Oct. 3. It also conducted a separate targeted survey of financial aid recipients, and one-on-one usability testing of key areas such as registration.

Brette Lea, executive director of public information and college marketing, says the PICM web team will continue to work with subject matter experts as it fine-tunes the site in advance of the launch.

The new site is designed to be easier to navigate by organizing information according to the task a student might be performing, rather than the organizational structure of the college. With a cleaner design and less text, the new site will work better on both desktop computers and mobile devices.

The full redesign project will be completed in phases. The current phase focuses on webpages for critical student tasks, such as registration and financial aid. Eventually other webpages and college websites will be converted to the new design. Ultimately, content owners will use the Drupal content management tool to update and maintain the information of their webpages.

Web Administrator Edward Terry said the redesign team will monitor usage analytics and feedback to continually improve the site. In the meantime, he adds, an adjustment period should be expected.

“Feedback about the new design has been mostly positive,” he said. “When something you’re used to viewing suddenly changes, it’s natural for it to seem jarring at first, but most find that it quickly becomes familiar.”

Survey participants included 121 students, 104 faculty members, 145 staff members, and 28 community members, alumni, parents, and others. Of the respondents, 91 percent approved of how the new website looks, while 82 percent indicated they could find information easily.

For details about the web project, see Leaner, Easy to Use Website Targets Student Success.