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Lessons Learned in the Website Revision Process

Handouts

Presented at 9:15am in WB I on Friday, November 22, 2019.

#29446

Speaker(s)

  • Petra Hartman, Technology Coordinator, Harvard University
  • Grace Moskola, Director, Harvard University

Session Details

  • Length of Session: 1-hr
  • Format: Lecture
  • Expertise Level: All Levels
  • Type of session: General Conference

Summary

Website updates can be a result of a change in office leadership, staffing, philosophy, or institutional directives. We will be discussing how our office went through a major website overhaul and the steps taken to establish group buy-in, delegation of tasks, and progressive improvement toward a more accessible and user-friendly design.

Abstract

Website revisions can be a difficult and time-consuming process that all offices must face to keep messaging accurate and relevant. Whether there have been recent leadership, philosophical, or technology changes in your office, or the website has just been left forgotten and unmaintained for a decade, it is probably long-overdue for an update.

Learn how our office transformed a website that hadn’t been touched since 2005 to our current site, and how you can avoid being overwhelmed by planning and writing all new content. We will discuss delegation strategies that enable the project manager to ensure consistent voice, tone, and messaging in the process, and ways to keep a team on track while balancing other priorities in the office. We will share our lessons learned and offer guidance and support in tackling revision projects both large and small.

Keypoints

  1. Project management and organization for website development
  2. Writing for the web, and keeping policy language readable
  3. Maintaining websites for long-term use

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Administrative/Campus Policy, Other, Uncategorized, Web/Media/App Access

Speaker Bio(s)

Petra Hartman

Petra Hartman is the Technology Coordinator for the Accessible Education Office at Harvard University. They received their bachelor’s degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Electrical & Computer Engineering where their research focused on analog microelectronics and assistive technology. They've worked on a variety of assistive technology projects including: refreshable braille displays, augmentative and alternative communication, web accessibility, and user experience design.

Grace Moskola

Grace Moskola, Director of the Accessible Education Office, has held progressive leadership roles in disability services offices for the past ten years. She holds dual Master of Arts degrees in Educational Leadership and Career and Technical Education, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. Grace’s leadership perspective includes the promotion of the social model of disability, with an emphasis on social justice, intersectionality, and identity development for college students with disabilities.

Handout(s)