We removed more than 5000 pages from our university website. This is why.

As we reflect on accessibility, there are two sides to this coin that higher education needs to consider, figuratively speaking. First, it is imperative that university websites embrace our responsibility to be inclusive of all digital content for people with disabilities, as outlined in the Colorado House of Representatives bill. 21-1110. Second, and the main issue I’m discussing here, universities have a responsibility to ensure that their websites reflect the inclusion they often talk about. Not just with images of students of color and mixed identities smiling on their campuses, but by developing content using resources like the Flesch reading ease score to support readability for the diverse communities we serve.

Over the span of a year, Community College of Aurora asked four critical questions about the effectiveness and accessibility of our website. First, who are we serving? Second, who is our desired audience? Third, what is the information that this audience needs? Fourth, how do we make the information accessible to this audience?

By deeply considering these questions, we discovered that our website was not a reflection of the “front door” of our university. vision statement: We aspire to be the university where all students succeed.

focused students

Pedagogically, educators are taught to plan, teach, and assess learning around the needs and abilities of students. Student Centered Learning, as it is known, provides educators with a framework for placing the needs and uniqueness of each student at the center of the educational experience. Such an approach empowers educators to design student-centered institutions.

However, the main question I raise is, do your college and university websites reflect interest in students? Can visitors effectively navigate your website to call to action that promote a seamless digital experience that in turn promotes a sense of belonging? If not, now is the time to do something about it.

It may not be easy. When Aurora Community College recognized the need to renovate its site several years ago, a series of challenges prevented the work from taking place. At one point, our university made the decision to change providers and start our efforts from scratch. Because? Because our administration understood and valued the need for our institution to partner with a website developer that best represents the dynamic and progressive approach our university seeks to serve our students.

blair lee, the executive director of strategic communications and alumni relations at my university, served as project lead for our website redesign. As Lee shared with me, “Completely overhauling our institutional website was not easy, it required a significant amount of cross-departmental collaboration to ensure all the necessary stakeholders were at the table for their voices to be heard and validated.”

But we knew the effort would be worth it. Lee further expressed, “The goal was to build a site that would, in essence, be used as a tool to drive enrollment, streamline communication, engage current students, and be a ‘digital utopia’ that would tell our story to site visitors beautifully.”

The approach we took, he added, “ensured that those who would be affected had a chance to provide feedback before launch.”

Defining the purpose of our university website

Through research and engagement, I was able to recognize as the president of the university that our website was wrongly trying to be all things to all people. Our current students, future students and their parents had to navigate a monstrosity of information and we (the university) were just hoping that the information was accessible.

The data showed that visitors to our previous website spent an average of 30 seconds each visit. Amazingly, since we launched our new website, visitors now spend three minutes and 15 seconds on average browsing our website. Additionally, our redesigned site has seen a 15 percent increase in our “apply” web page, which for our institution essentially works as a query database.

“University websites were important before the pandemic. We rely on them to facilitate access to information and services. Post-pandemic, instead of access, websites are drivers of action,” he says. clara collins, Vice President of Enrollment Administration and Pathway Success at my institution. “As the ‘first look’ option for most students, websites are now the primary schools of the method [use to] generate leads, communicate your mission and vision, and drive engagement. To capture student data and maintain healthy enrollment, a strong web presence with clear calls to action has become vital.”

We also have more changes planned for the future. Because more than 50 percent of our students are first-generation college students, more than 50 percent are students of color, more than 30 percent identify as Hispanic or Latino, and more than 70 countries are represented at our institution, it was imperative that our university website represent our federal pride. Designation of institution serving Hispanics. This fall, our university plans to launch a Spanish version of our entire website, and efforts are underway to develop and identify third-language navigation.

Now, more than ever, we have a responsibility as educators to create curriculum and learning environments that honor and take into account the diversity of our evolving communities. I hope our experience inspires your institution to make your digital presence more welcoming and useful to your current and future students.