University Relations and IT Services will begin a project to roll out a new uark.edu website template design at the end of the month. This project will provide a slight visual refresh, along with updated technology, improved user experience and ADA compliance.

This campuswide project not only improves usability and clarity in how our sites are organized and presented, but it also adopts best practices in development, accessibility, usability and more. The benefit of this template model expands far beyond just the look of the websites and puts the university more in line with national and global standards for modern websites.

The office of Digital Design and Development worked with the Digital Communications Council and its subcommittees, specifically the user experience committee, who collaborated internally and externally to research, design, build and test the new templates before final approval by campus leadership. Some notable changes include:

• Smaller header
• Smaller university logo
• Larger real estate for page content
• Larger focus on department/college/office name
• Cleaner look and feel
• Improved mobile support
• Better web accessibility

As our rollout begins, keep a lookout for this new design as implementation begins early February and will continue throughout the year until all uark.edu sites have been updated. College and division webmasters will be working closely within their respective areas to manage the project and will continue to be a source of support as needed.

If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Digital Design and Development at webhelp@uark.edu.