Brief
Building on its rich heritage as the oldest college of the University of Melbourne, Trinity College wanted their online presence to reflect their traditional roots as well as their modern and diverse approach to education. They approached Reactive to redesign and develop their Web site and associated internal sites. The objectives were to:
• Convert Web site visitors into engaged and active users with the College
• Raise Trinity’s profile and standing as a quality provider of world-class collegiate education and a hub of intellectual and cultural activity
• Provide timely, accurate information about all aspects of the College to anyone seeking it
Reactive wanted to provide the College with a new CMS implementation as well as a new user centric Web site that fulfils all users’ needs.
Design & Strategy
The strategy behind the layout was to use elegant, appealing and highly usable design that reflected and strengthened the College’s corporate identity. The focus was on large visuals and navigation that is intuitive and easy to use. The visuals communicated the diversity, energy and personality of Trinity College.
The design team at Reactive took care to use Trinity’s colours throughout the design, enabling the imagery to appear cohesive. Great thought was given to branding and using appropriate images to ensure that the messaging is consistent and told in a contemporary and clear way.
Solution
Reactive started with the implementation of cManager 5.0, a content management system from Codagenic, to ensure an incredibly accessible, robust and scalable Web site. We installed a set of custom modules that will ensure the consistent presentation of more complex Web site content and resources.
Our front end developers created templates in CSS and HTML, compliant with relevant industry standards. The site was also developed to Level AA Accessibility and thoroughly tested across both Macintosh and Windows platforms and all commonly used browsers to ensure the Web site’s design integrity is maintained.
We also ensured that we provided users with the ability to donate online, meeting one of Trinity College’s key objectives. Reactive set up an online form which allows users to make a donation using their credit card details. The form is integrated with Securepay to allow for transactions to happen in real time.
The site is mobile-optimised, ensuring that students and users can access information they need on the go. It also has links to Trinity College’s social media accounts, including Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter, encouraging visitors to connect with the College on other networks. The site has been integrated with Youtube for video and audio files as well as Flickr for image galleries within the Web site.
Results
The redesign and development of Trinity College’s Web site launched in March 2011 and it has seen an improvement in site traffic and applications.