University Updates, Redesigns Website

Photo Submitted

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas will unveil a new website Friday, designed with prospective students in mind. The new site will provide information that prospective students routinely search for while showcasing the best of the university and its campus culture.

“We reinvented the university’s homepage as a front door for our main audience of future students and their parents, while keeping frequently used links for our current students and staff,” said Chris Nixon, director of digital design and development for university relations.

Current students, faculty and staff will find familiar links like the A-Z Index, ISIS and Blackboard tucked within an icon at the top of the page, three horizontal lines boxed to the right of the search bar. Hit those lines to open up the extra navigation. A short video has also been prepared to help people navigate the site.

This is the first refresh of the homepage since 2007, Nixon said. The site marks the culmination of an exhaustive digital communication audit by the nationally known Web communications consultant mStoner and months of volunteer work by a cross-campus team of designers, programmers and content contributors.

“It was a design-by-committee project that actually worked,” Nixon said.

Key to the redesign is a shift away from an organizational structure to reflect the information prospective students most often seek: the types of degrees offered, the cost to attend the university and a feel for the U of A campus culture.

The new design also pushes strategic messages, campus events and campus news to the forefront. A large horizontal “window” sits at the top of the home page and will guide viewers into important stories about the campus. Events and news each receive their own homepage space to illustrate our campus culture on a daily basis.

Finally, there is consistent navigation throughout the many Web pages. The new design provides space for creative distinction between the university’s many organizations, but also allows a viewer to understand where they are in the website, how to get back to the homepage and where important information can be found across all webpages.

Feedback about the new look and its operation are welcome through the Contact Us feature available at the very bottom of each page.