Website project background, current position and next steps

Originally published March 3, 2017

The web transformation project has now entered into the content planning, design and template build stage.

Background

Last year, a digital audit concluded that the current website does not meet the needs and expectations of our audiences. Ultimately, some internal users were dissatisfied with the website and CMS, and were confused about who the primary audience for the website is. External users thought that the website could be improved and that it didn’t reflect the uniqueness of the University. In addition, the website was not fully responsive, and there is a lack of content governance. In all, the current approach of including different content for multiple audiences in the same place compromises the experience for all users.

Current position

We have now undertaken a procurement process with the aim of recruiting a creative and innovative digital agency who will work with us to not only create a new and sector-leading website design, but also to enhance the website’s user journeys. We have selected the Bolton-based digital agency Absolute Media (absolutemedia.co.uk) as our digital partner. The team at Absolute Media have experience of working with other universities such as the University of Manchester, University of Glasgow, and Queen’s University Belfast, and are also an approved partner with our Content Management System (CMS) provider TERMINALFOUR (T4).

Next steps

The overall project to redevelop the Keele University website, with new templates, more innovative features, and improved content, will run for the next couple of years.

Firstly, Over the coming weeks and months, Absolute Media will work closely with our Digital Communications team to restructure our web presence for identified audiences and contexts, which will include reducing the amount of content on the website, and separating content relevant only to staff and students into two new intranet sections. The team will also work with Absolute Media to build a new set of accessible, responsive website templates, and will introduce new processes to build and manage these through an agile approach.

The first stage with Absolute Media will be to run stakeholder workshops in order to determine the information architecture of the new website. For this activity we are working with a representative group of prospective and current students at all levels of study, alongside both administrative and academic staff.

The production of template wireframes will begin towards the end of April, with template design taking place in mid-May. During the same time, T4 will be upgraded to version 8. Testing will take us into June, with the handover of the templates ready for integration into the CMS expected in July/August. We will then be at a stage ready to write new content and build new sections utilising these templates over the following eighteen months, beginning with the core study pages in the autumn of 2017. The website project will primarily follow an agile methodology. This will give the project a more flexible and adaptive approach, and will be more suited to the small size of the project team and the need to work collaboratively.

The Digital Communications Team will keep all stakeholders updated on the progress of the project through regular posts on this blog. Monthly project update papers will be circulated to the project steering group, and monthly presentations will be delivered to a project interest group, to share the latest updates.