Top 10 tips for a better school's website

1 Have a clear objective for the site

Although very obvious, this point is often overlooked and a school’s website can grow uncontrollably resulting in it being difficult to maintain and poorly accessible. Having a site objective and a common policy will help make sure the site keeps consistency regardless of the content sources.

2 Nominate a web editor

This is an important aspect of the management of the school website. As the content comes from many sources, it is important that a web editor is appointed to make sure it is vetted for legal compliance, grammatical errors, it complies with the schools policy in terms of copyright, privacy, design etc… Depending on the size of the site, the editor could also have the role of updating the site, drawing up policies and all the other aspects of the website management.

3 Protect the identity of young people

It is important to bear in mind that the content of the website will be accessible by anybody across the internet. Do not publish personal information, names, e-mail addresses or photos of individual children. Be aware of the Data Protection Act. In many cases, it is worth considering secure areas with different access levels for teachers, pupils, administrators and parents.

4 Exploit the medium

The web was never meant to be a one-way communication medium and the school’s website would represent a great communication channel for parents and pupils. You can receive feedback, run polls setup forums and in general put in place the tools that would allow better communication overall.

5 Keep it fresh

One of the keys to a successful website, you need to make your visitors want to stay there and keep coming back; provide topical items and delete or archive out-of-date material.

6 Keep the design simple and consistent.

In order for the site to be easy to navigate and pleasing for the user, consistency of design is paramount. Choose a colour scheme and stick to it across the site, it will make the site more appealing and boost the user’s trust in the site.

7 Consider how information should be organised

Information is of little use if the user cannot reach them easily. Evaluate the information that users are likely to want to access easily (it can be term times, fees, accomodation, members of staff or simply where the school is located) and make tests to make sure it is easy for the users to find it.

8 Make the site accessible to everybody

Making a website accessible is not only a requirement under UK Law (Disability Discrimination Act) is also a moral obligation and a positive move towards inclusion and responsible business practice. Bear in mind that this is not only important for people with visual impairment but also for users with low vision because of old age, motor impairment and different level of literacy. (See WAI website for more details on the implications web accessibility when managing and building websites.)

9 Respect copyright

Always state the source, web page address or author when using materials from other web pages. And also state any constraints you wish to impose on people using your pages or published material (for example whether you permit people copying for non-commercial educational purposes). See http://creativecommons.org/ for information on how to include a license for the material the school has produced.

10 Build your site sensibly

Common sense is the most important tool for a web editor and designer. Make sure that the site is built according to the industry standard and avoid cutting experimental technology that could compromise the future-proofness of the site

ADM can help your school in the building and management of the website, providing an infrastructure that will make it easy to update to non-technical staff and consultancy to help your in-house team make the best of the web.

Contact our web services department for more information

web@adm-computing.co.uk

01227 473503