A new online tool will help UC Davis staff and faculty easily make Web sites with better design and improved communication, as well as accessibility for disabled people.

Several volunteer sites are being launched this month to test the new content management system for creating and managing Web sites. Plans call for inviting more units on campus to participate in July, when the system will be rolled out through a phased plan.

“UC Davis Web site owners face a number of challenges, ranging from meeting basic Web standards for design and communication to lacking technical and design expertise,” said Jan Conroy, director of the UC Davis Publications unit and co-chair of the Web Content Management System Steering Committee.

“We think use of this product — Cascade Server by Hannon Hill — will lead to more effective Web sites at UC Davis. These will be sites that tell our audiences what they want to know when they want to know it and that strengthen the campus’s visual identity,” Conroy added.

Many types of content management systems are already used on campus, said Morna Mellor, director of the Data Center and Client Services and the steering committee’s other co-chair.

“We recognize this system may not meet the specific needs of every unit and department on campus,” she said. “Many site owners already have the resources required to publish and maintain standards-compliant Web content.

“We developed this approach to reduce the amount of technical knowledge required to create and maintain Web sites. We also want to empower staff who already author and manage content to do it directly without specialized technical training. In addition, we have a commitment to ensure the project is informed by the involvement and expertise of technical leads from administrative and academic units.”

The initiative is centrally funded until June 2010; in the meantime, the steering committee will be working out a long-term funding plan and the process for signing up participants and getting them trained.

UC Davis began pursuing the idea of using a content management system several years ago, thanks to then-Provost Virginia Hinshaw.

Concerned with the number of campus sites lacking basic information — poor navigation, no contact information, no sign of affiliation with UC Davis — and with Web practices that limited access for people with disabilities, Hinshaw asked Information and Educational Technology and University Communications to find a solution.

“Her vision was to enable campus staff and faculty to use the Web as a showcase for UC Davis’ accomplishments,” Conroy said.

Nearly two dozen representatives from academic and administrative units, including the UC Davis Health System, evaluated more than 100 software systems before purchasing the Cascade Server in June 2008. Since then, a cross-campus group has been learning the system, configuring the software and developing a family of templates and training materials.

Hand-in-hand with programmers and designers, volunteer content editors from various campus units have been taking the system for a road test. What they have learned is being funneled into the training program aimed at bringing new system users up to speed quickly.

Time-saver, cost-effective

Beyond improving the Web for the campus’s many audiences, practical business reasons exist for adopting the system, according to Brian Biehle, a Web programmer for the Chancellor and Provost’s Offices and a member of the Content Management System Implementation Committee.

With the Web tool, small programs will have control of their content without having to depend on temporary student techs, and large departments will be able to free highly trained technical staff to move on to pressing but more sophisticated tasks, Biehle said.

Marjorie Ahl, program assistant for the UC Davis Retiree Center, heads the training committee for the initiative. In her job, she provides program and information system support to the center and two retiree organizations.

“Communicating via the Web is essential to our program for two reasons: the need for dynamic, current information and the large size of our audience,” Ahl said. “It is simply not possible to send a mailer to 7,000 retirees whenever I have a program change. But I can keep my Web site current and teach retirees to check for the latest information.”

Emphasizing best practices

The training program will emphasize best practices for Web sites — how to use photos, good writing, accessibility standards — as well as how to use the new Web-based software.

A suite of templates, developed by a committee of Web designers, will offer campus units the ability to design an individual look while supporting campus graphic standards and remaining in the UC Davis “Web family.”

UC Davis must also address the broader issue of meeting the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.

By promoting accessible Web sites, the university is responding to campus policy, the Principles of Community, state and federal guidelines and legal precedence, said Rick Hill, webmaster for the College of Engineering. Hill is an acknowledged expert on Web accessibility and a member of the Content Management System Implementation Committee.

“All people should be able to access the Web, which is why UC Davis is obligated to ensure our Web content is accessible,” he said.

The Content Management System initiative: cms.ucdavis.edu