In an effort to improve its digital experience for visitors, the University of Delaware has launched a series of improved websites, including the home page, UDaily and Undergraduate Admissions. Additionally, UD in Photos and the Events Calendar have a refreshed design to match the new look and feel of the home page. All of these sites are responsive, meaning that they work seamlessly across smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops to provide an optimal experience for users regardless of the device they use.

The new web presence has been under development for nearly three years and is built off of extensive research and data analysis to ensure it will best meet the needs of UD’s key online visitors. This process included considering UD’s many audiences and their needs, how best to present content, digital industry trends and benchmarking within higher education. Dozens of UD stakeholders were interviewed – including prospective students, current students, parents, alumni, faculty, staff, researchers, community members, business partners and senior leadership among others. These findings were the basis for the strategy behind the design, content and overall user experience in order to ensure UD is meeting the needs of its target audiences. Driven by visual content, this new website system delivers the UD story through an engaging and distinctive virtual brand experience.

Within the new sites, many pages have been combined or revamped to provide the best information to the visitor. Old pages that may have been archived will be redirected to the corresponding new page with the most relevant content. What used to be text may now be displayed as a video, photo or an infographic. This strategy ensures that UD is at the forefront of web presence within higher education but also the digital industry at large.

Below are some of the new pages that may be most useful to the campus community to review and bookmark. Most pages have a “Resources” box with links that will help with locating webpages for various UD services.

• About UD

• Current Students

• Faculty & Staff

• Academics

• Alumni & Friends

• Research & Innovation

For websites frequented by virtual visitors, there is a “Quick Links” drop down in the header, which provides fast access to MyUD, Maps, People Directory, Athletics, Library, A-Z Index, News and Events. The footer features similar links focused on Explore, Academics, Services and Connect. Some of these high-traffic features can be found by navigating to various places.

• Email: The email link is featured on several pages, and an easy way to find it is under My UD in the quick links section on the top right-hand side of our homepage and other news pages. The Quick Links feature also is great for maps, the people directory, A to Z index and more favorites.

• HR and other benefits information: The Human Resources website is easily found by clicking on the Faculty & Staff tab in the top of the navigation, and on that page it is in the carousel feature. Many HR links also can be found on the Employee Resources page that can be located on the Faculty & Staff tab in the top navigation.

• College websites: Hovering over the Academics tab in the top navigation and clicking on “colleges” will get you to a listing of UD’s seven colleges’ websites.

Additionally, to provide a unified user experience, there are several global elements in the header and footer of all pages on the new sites. Icons in the header provide clear calls to action for the primary business needs and user goals of the website – Visit, Apply and Give.

Any units or colleges interested in learning more about the new website system and considering it for their website solutions should contact the Digital Team in Communications and Public Affairs at digitalteam@udel.edu.

As the new system is content driven, suggestions are welcome and can be submitted via the comments form for consideration based on the new digital content strategy.