Students, staff, and faculty who land on the Faculty of Science or Student Health & Wellness websites this week will be met with an entirely new and improved website experience, thanks to a project led by Information Technology Services (ITS) that has been several years in the making.
The Joint Web Project was initiated well over a year before the inception of (login required). At the time, several internal units, including the Faculty of Science, Student Health & Wellness, and the Faculty of Graduate studies, had recognized the importance of offering their stakeholders a better, more useable website, and had already invested time and resources into better understanding their audiences and developing a strategy for modifying their sitemap and content.
Unfortunately, their eagerness to rebuild their sites was met with the technical limitations of dal.ca鈥檚 current content management system (AEM Classic) that would soon to be phased out. It seemed like a waste to try and realise their plans using an antiquated tool. 聽
Thankfully, this challenge also presented an opportunity for both the ITS Web Team and the units to trial the latest version of dal.ca鈥檚 content management system, AEM Touch UI, with each site representing a different test case for web authoring in this new environment. As a result, the Joint Web Project was formed in early 2020 to bring these distinct units together as part of a collaborative team, that with the support of ITS and Communications, Marketing & Creative Services (CMC), would explore the potential of this new web landscape.
Taking the leap
While it was unchartered territory for all involved, it was a risk worth taking in the eyes of senior leaders.
鈥淲e recognize the value of a website that is both compelling and engaging, user friendly and interactive,鈥� says Chris Moore, dean of the Faculty of Science. 鈥淏eing a part of the Joint Web Project has delivered a tool that will enable us to attract the best students, staff, and faculty to Dal Science.鈥�
"We are so happy and proud to see these sites come full circle and be live on the Dal.ca domain,鈥� says Heather Fraser, director of Enterprise Application Services in ITS. 鈥淲e've experienced tremendous collaboration and team work to get where we are now and can't wait to show off the results to the world. Hard work and dedication have paid off, and we are ready for the reveal!"
Building the bridge between dal.ca and myDal
The project leveraged another ITS web initiative, (login required), which offers a dedicated space for faculty, staff, and current students to find relevant internal-facing or operational information. Each Joint Web Project stakeholder partner embarked on the myDal site development process to determine the intranet solution that was best for them.
鈥淥ur website is the passage through which thousands of prospective students make first contact with 网红黑料 and a key place for our students, faculty and staff to turn for information and support,鈥� s