Planning a Website Redesign
(An Infopeople Live Online Course)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 – Monday, July 11, 2011
Fee: $75 for those in the California library community and Infopeople Partners, $150 for all others.
Course Instructor: Laura Solomon
Is your library thinking about or planning a redesign of its website? You may have a nagging feeling that the website would benefit from an overhaul. Or, you're wondering about whether the site is user-friendly and accessible. Even if a formal redesign is not planned, it might be time to take a close look at how your current website could be improved.
Through this course you will be able to plan or start a website redesign by asking the right questions, evaluating the current website, and setting redesign goals. In online meetings with expert website developer Laura Solomon, you will learn how to:
- Outline the specific steps to take in a redesign process
- Determine redesign tasks using analytics data
- Compare a website displayed in different browsers
- Test a website for Section 508 and WAI standards
Get the low-down on best practices you can implement, as well as common mistakes to avoid. Redesigning your library's website to make it more usable, professional, and credible can result in more traffic and greater awareness of your library's services.
Please note that this is not a hands-on course on website creation but is focused on how to plan for a website redesign. During this "live online" course you will be participating in four weekly WebEx meetings with the instructor.
Course Description: This four-week course includes weekly scheduled online meetings, as well as assignments and discussions to be done anytime during the week. You will learn how to best approach the redesign process, from evaluating your library's current site, all the way through to what should take place after launch of the new site. The instructor will provide practical tips and techniques, best practices, and resources that your library can use when undertaking a future revamp of its website.
Online meetings with the instructor will be held Thursdays at 1 pm Pacific time on these dates: June 16, 23, 30, and July 7. Please plan your schedule accordingly.
Preliminary Course Outline: Using your web browser and your Internet connection, you will log in to the Infopeople online learning site and complete the following learning modules:
- Week 1: Starting the Process (Online meeting on June 16)
- The right questions to ask when planning a site redesign
- How to examine site architecture for the current website
- The appropriate terminology to use when working with website designers
- Specific steps to take at the beginning of the redesign process
- Setting specific redesign goals
- Week 2: Laying the Path (Online meeting on June 23)
- Evaluation of your library's website based on best practices and common design and usability flaws
- Determining redesign tasks using Google analytics data
- Week 3: Why Standards Matter (Online meeting on June 30)
- What W3C standards are and how they affect your library's website
- Comparison of a website displayed in different browsers
- Week 4: Usability, Accessibility, and Launch (Online meeting on July 7)
- Testing a website for Section 508 and WAI standards
- Basic usability testing
- Steps to take after a new site has launched
Time required: To complete this course, you can expect to spend 2½ hours per week, for a total of ten course hours. Plan your schedule to attend the online meetings at 1 pm Pacific time on June 16, 23, 30, and July 7. (Meetings will be archived but you are strongly encouraged to attend in real time to derive maximum benefit from interaction with the instructor.) You can work on the assignment options and discussions at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night, but it is recommended that you complete each week's work within that week to stay in sync with other learners.
Who Should Take This Course: Library staff responsible for planning or overseeing the redesign of a website, or wanting to evaluate and improve the look and feel, usability, and accessibility of the library's website. This is not a hands-on course on website creation. Instead it is a course focused on how to plan for a website redesign.
Online Learning Details and System Requirements may be found at:
http://infopeople.org/learning_details.
Pre-requisites: Test your browser for the necessary WebEx players and plug-ins before the start of the course, using this link: http://www.webex.com/lp/jointest. You will need access to the Internet Explorer 8 or 9 AND Firefox 3 or 4 browsers on a Windows computer to complete the course.
Course Start: This 4-week-long online learning course starts on Tuesday, June 14, 2011.
After the official end date for the course, the instructor will be available for limited consultation and support for two more weeks, and the course material will stay up for an additional two weeks after that. These extra weeks give those who have fallen behind time to work independently to complete the course.
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