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Allegany Intermediate Unit outlines website redesign, emphasizes homepage fixes and ADA compliance
Summary
AIU presented early findings from a six-week website redesign contract with McKeesport Area SD, saying the current template can be reused, users seek calendars/menus/news, 70% are mobile visitors, and new content will be made ADA-compliant ahead of upcoming DOJ guidance.
Representatives from the Allegany Intermediate Unit told the McKeesport Area School District board on March 12 that work to overhaul the district website is underway and on a fast timeline.
Sarah McLuhan, director of marketing and strategic communications for the Allegany Intermediate Unit, said the AIU team began work after the board approved the contract in January and completed a discovery phase. "Thank you for giving us the opportunity to work with the district," McLuhan said as she described content, navigation and policy review work the team has completed.
Dan Rinkis, the AIU supervisor who presented survey results, said the unit collected user feedback via a website pop-up and social-media outreach. "Most people go to the homepage," Rinkis summarized, and the most commonly sought items were calendars, menus and news. He said about 70% of users access the site on mobile devices, and that many visitors reach school pages by first landing on the homepage.
AIU recommended focusing design and navigation improvements on the homepage and removing redundant or blank pages. The team said the current site template appears usable and that no major new purchases are required; the project will instead emphasize rewriting and restructuring content, adding photo galleries and producing a district video.
McLuhan gave a tentative schedule that targets content work, video production and system setup through April and May, followed by an analytics review tied to search-engine optimization. She also flagged accessibility: AIU will make new content ADA-compliant and review analytics and SEO, noting anticipated Department of Justice guidance for school-district web content next April.
Board members asked no substantive questions at the end of the presentation and thanked the AIU team. AIU said it will continue to collect administrator and public feedback as it prepares the updated site and handoff systems so district staff can maintain the site going forward.
