Syracuse shares Guide to University Website Design

Syracuse University has prepared a guide to the design of its own website in such a way that it may be of use to other universities and educational institutions. Coming with a rather handy pop-up index of topics, the guide to design includes details of recommended organisation, navigation, layout, graphics, technology, and content, right down to the level of which fonts to use.

The Office of Electronic Media Communications which developed this best practices document suggests that websites that adhere to these guidelines should be easier to maintain and redesign, and will have a more uniform look across platforms and browsers.

On the subejct of user involvement, it says: 'Developers of websites should incorporate the user's perspective into every aspect of website development: content, design, navigation, technology, and site management. Web developers need to plan their websites to allow for maximum exposure of content with minimal effort by the user.'

It then gives the design process as:
'* Define audience(s), goals, look and feel
* Perform competitive analysis of comparable sites; look at functionality and design components that may be appropriate for your site
* Develop and organize content topics
* Develop information flowchart (blueprint of website)
* Document detailed website requirements:
- Phase I Foundation and critical functionality needed for site's success
- Phase II Additional functionality and interactivity
* Develop design concepts, navigation and graphics
* Incorporate changes into design concepts
* Build navigation and graphics for each section of website with test content (may use include files and/or cascading style sheets)
* Test website in Netscape (4.7x) and Internet Explorer on both PC and Mac
* Insert content
* Usability studies
* Final testing'
We could, of course, argue for more evidence of user involvement and higher up the chain.

Associated Link: The guidelines from Syracuse

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