All About Building a Research Website

Eric Sembrat

Eric Scott SembratWeb Manager @ Georgia Tech College of Engineering - Dean’s Office

twitter: @esembratweb: webbeh.com

First, Your Assignment

Bad Websites

Incredibly dated design/background

pattern.

(when was this page last updated? a lot sooner than you’d

think.)

Non-standard menu placement and organization.

Georgia Tech logo and site graphic non-

compliant, out of date.

Be wary of usage of Buzz, Georgia Tech protected assets.

Custom logos can sometimes look worse than not having one.

Non-standard appearance of menus

may throw off end-users.

Make sure your website text appeals to

each of your anticipated visitor

role(s).

Make sure your website text appeals to

each of your anticipated visitor

role(s).

Don’t use fish as menu hovers.

Sometimes themed websites can detract

from the professionalism of a

website.

Key TakeawaysUsing outdated web styling gives the appearance of a stale website.

Be wary of customizing ‘official’ GT logos, trademarks.

Using very technical descriptions and text may detract intended audiences (read: public, media, graduate students).

Good Websites

Writing for the Web

Is Your Website Public?If so, you must adhere to 508 Accessibility Requirements for your website, content, images, and documents.

See: http://www.gatech.edu/accessibility/

Accessibility RequirementsAt a minimum, you’ll need to have:

• ‘Alt text’ on each and every non-descriptive image describing it.

• Meaningful link text (not click here). • Responsible layout and content usage:

• Not using tables for layouts • Using header text appropriately • Using contrasting colors for background/

text.

Consider Your Audience(s)When creating pages, updating content, or building a website, consider who might be visiting your website.

Roles include:

• General Public. • Prospective Graduate Students. • Prospective Faculty. • Current Students, Faculty. • Media and Communications.

Build your websites to meet these end-users.

Consider Your AssetsRemember that videos, images on your website are critical to the visual identity as well as potential articles and news.

Photos and images should be available in large quality (>1200pixels) as needed.

Videos should be available through services which allow captioning.

Consider Your PagesContent is king.

Consider organizing content into individual menu items based on roles or usage.

Examples being Research, Publications, People, News, Events, Contact Information.

What kinds of content are you looking for on a website?

What can GT do for you?

Why Reinvent the Wheel?Georgia Tech has up-to-date resources, assets, and templates that make digital web communication and websites easy to build!

What is a CMS?Georgia Tech uses content management systems for most websites on-campus.

Content Management SystemsDrupal • See: https://drupal.gatech.edu/

WordPress • See: http://pwp.gatech.edu/

DrupalThe foundational CMS on campus.

Very flexible for custom websites with lots of personalization, but very high technical requirements.

WordPressThe service-oriented CMS on campus.

Very easy to use (think: plug and play) but very limited customization.

Your Activity

Professional Web PresenceUse the on-campus WordPress installation to create a website for your research and work.

• http://pwp.gatech.edu/

Professional Web PresenceRequest a website for your own personal needs.

• Use your GT account name as the site name and URL if desired.

Test with WordPress, a content management system for websites on campus, with the goal of building what you would think is an ideal website for a personal need.

Show and tell what you built and why.