Coming January 2014: university website will be easier to access on smartphones and smaller screens
Zoom in; zoom out. Scroll over and scroll down. And you still haven’t found what you’re looking for.
If you have a smartphone, tablet, iPad or a similar gadget, you may have experienced the annoyance of visiting a website on your device that does not fit on your screen. The page may be too big or too small, causing you to embark on a scavenger hunt just to find the link you need or to finish reading a page.
However, several sites’ webpages have been masterfully adapted to meet the needs of these devices. Beginning next semester, Lee’s university website will join those ranks.
“We have implemented technology that allows us to have one site that automatically adjusts the look and feel for the device you are using,” said Director of IT Systems Nate Tucker.
Because the layout of the website can adjust to whatever size screen you happen to have, this “responsive design” makes visiting the website easier and faster, especially on the go. It’s called responsive design because that’s exactly what it does – it “responds” to different forms of technology by providing a suitable format.
While some organizations choose to design separate websites for different kinds of devices, responsive design accomplishes the same results using only one actual site. This helps maintain consistency between devices. While the new layout is different, you will not have to spend a lot of time figuring out where everything is because of its similarities to the original design.
The use of only one site also means that even if you are working on a desktop or laptop computer, you can resize the window in which you have opened the website, and the site will adjust to the new size. This is particularly helpful when working with multiple windows or programs.
The responsive design will be implemented January 2014. Check back in for more updates!