Department Web site updates in progress
The department Web pages on Eastern’s Web site are still undergoing construction.
Ryan Gibson, Web master at Eastern, said the Center for Academic Technology Support has been working with departments to improve their pages since they were created but has been working toward the most recent version, the “EIU look,” for a little over a year.
The new look includes the Eastern header, left side navigation and custom headers created by a designer in University Marketing and Communication.
“This improves the visual look of their site, but also does a lot of things that go unnoticed,” Gibson said.
Gibson said the new designs also work better on mobile platforms and print better than previous versions of the template.
Furthermore, the law also requires that the new sites are accessible under the American with Disabilities Act and comply with the Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act.
Eastern typically changes the looks of its Web site every three to four years.
“This keeps the sites up with newer web technologies and also gives the department a chance to review all of their content,” Gibson said.
Gibson said departmental Web pages are continually being updated and most departments choose to upgrade to improve the visual aspect of their site or to make the site easier to manage.
Most departments update with OmniUpdate, the campus content management system, which allows non-technical staff to make updates whenever they choose.
Some departmental sites being re-worked are the School of Business and Financial Aid sites.
“We are not forcing anyone to change to the new look,” Gibson said. “Of course, we encourage it, though.”
Gibson said CATS is always working with departments to improve their Web sites.
“Our goal is that each department will better reach their target audience,” Gibson said. “So, visually the site will be different, but we also hope the content is more focused and better organized.”
Heather Holm can be reached at 581-7942 or haholm@eiu.edu.
