The University's new home page was officially unveiled at the beginning of the month, and efforts are already under way to share what has been learned in the redesign process and to encourage further enhancement of UD's web pages.

Earlier this month, Joy Lynam and Carl Jacobson, both of Management Information Services and leaders of the home page refreshment effort, met with almost 100 department web developers at the Perkins Student Center.

"We are taking our web design from a first-generation model focused on organizational structure to a second-generation design that empowers the customer to make his or her own choices," Jacobson told the group. "The future goal is a third-generation web structure that will engage the customer as an individual, targeting a market of one."

Jacobson explained that the new home page is process and event driven so that "the customer will search by categories, such as 'prospective student' and 'steps to graduation,' rather than 'admissions' or 'bookstore' (for gown purchase) and 'department' (for senior checkout)."

"We want to share the lessons we learned and the standards and guidelines we developed," Lynam said, "as well as to present some tools and utilities that departments can use as they follow their own path to web refreshment."

She offered some specific tips and strategies for the web developers to use in updating and refining their own departmental pages.

"Your average customer is not surfing the web, but is looking for specific information," she said. "They spend only 10-20 seconds per page, and they scan rather than read. This means your page needs to deliver information in as concise a manner as possible, answer questions and be simple, with no information overload.

"On home pages, consider a customer-orientation as well as browse-type entries. On second-level pages, consider lists, resource boxes and a process-driven offering of services. Remember, our over-riding goal is outreach and accessibility," Lynam advised. "To achieve that avoid low-contrast colors, movement or frames or any other technique that may compromise a visitor receiving your page."

Department web developers will get additional assistance with their own refreshment projects through web newsletters, team meetings and future presentations.

For further information on web refreshment and how you might improve your college or department pages, visit the web site at <http://www.udel.edu/webmedia/web-dev/>.

--Gail E. Walford