HOW THIS PROTOYPE WAS DEVELOPED
The prototype you are viewing is an introduction to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University that gives an overview of the degrees and programs, each of the campuses, the university administration, academic organizations, and research areas. The architecture and content of the site provides ample links into each of the campus websites, offering visitors a clear path to specific areas of interest elsewhere in our web presence.
Prospective students visiting this site have several ways to learn about degree and program offerings: through an interactive interest explorer from the home page (“I want to…”), by directly accessing “Degrees & Programs” in the navigation and scanning a complete listing, or via the Academics section listing Colleges and Departments and linking to those respective pages.
Building an effective and usable website requires planning and research to answer two basic questions: What are the primary goals of the website? What tasks do the website visitors need to accomplish?
Several of these primary goals and tasks are reflected in the upper right portion of the banner on every page with Calls to Action for prospective students: Apply Now, Request Information, and Visit a Campus. The goals and tasks of current students, faculty and staff are reflected as well, with links to People Search and ERNIE also in the upper right.
The prototype also features improved capability for highlighting timely and engaging news about this unique University. The interactive Spotlight feature offers a space for vivid photography, text, and video; the “In the News” text links are place to quickly update breaking news, and will link to a robust News portal destination to enhance our web presence and market profile.
DATA-DRIVEN
This prototype reflects a solid foundation of information:
- Usability testing on the current website revealed specific ways to improve the website structure and interface to help visitors find what they are looking for more easily. This technique consists of recording real people using the website to find specific pieces of information.
- Traffic reports on the current website show the content most in demand by visitors to our site, how visitors find the website, and the phrases visitors type into the search box most often.
- Prospective student surveys resulted in a ranking of what our primary target audience most wants to learn about on the website. Prospective student pools from each of the three campuses participated in the survey, and this data will drive decision-making on the campus sites as well.
ARCHITECTURE
The organization of the site has been streamlined significantly for easier navigation. The main menu, as well as the sub-menu in each section, remains consistent throughout the site. In the age of Google, where every page of a website is potentially the “front door” of the site, a sound architecture is more important than ever. The visitor must be able to immediately determine: “Where am I and where can I go from here?”
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
The content, linking, page coding, file naming, and directory structure all reflect current standards and best practices in search engine optimization, in order to achieve the best possible rankings in Google and other searches.
In 2007, we received 2.9 million visitors to our websites, with Google accounting for 22.5% of those visits. This year, we project the number of visitors to exceed 3.5 million, and as of June 30th, Google refers 26.4% of visitors.
ACCESSIBILITY
The prototype you are viewing passes validation for the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, as well as the Section 508 Amendment of the Rehabilitation Act requiring Federal agencies to make electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities.
Although Embry-Riddle is not required by law to provide an accessible site, it is within the current web standards and best practices to do so.
DESIGN
The look and feel of the site is based on data from the usability studies as well as input from various groups across the university. The elimination of “fly-out” menus and the adoption of a fixed-width, for example, were decisions driven by observation of users getting confused reading through the many options on the menus and overlooking portions of the page entirely.
The color scheme reflects a widely-held consensus from students, staff and faculty alike: Embry-Riddle’s official school colors are used more prominently.
MULTIMEDIA
The home page of the prototype features a very eye-catching interactive Spotlight piece, and a Career Interest and Degree Explorer piece.
The Spotlight area on the left is designed to showcase University news and events. It has been developed to be easily updated with photos, text, and video.
The “I Want to…” Career Interest and Degree Explorer is designed to educate visitors about the programs Embry-Riddle offers by mapping them to broad areas of career interest. This piece is also easily updated with photos, text, and video. Each category will feature a video segment within six months.
The very small portion of the browsing population that are not able to view the multimedia piece will still be able to browse the rest of the site.
A WORK IN PROGRESS
Thank you for taking the time to review this prototype and provide your input. As this is a prototype, it will continue to develop based on data from ongoing usability testing, traffic reports, user feedback, and community consensus.
