From grassroots to enterprise CMS: how we are creating consistency of brand, responsiveness and accessibility

Date: Saturday, July 27, 2019
Time: 11:00 - 11:45 am (PDT) (UTC-07:00)
Format: General Lecture Session

Session description

A recent brand redesign provided the opportunity to develop resources for our 15 colleges and all of their units for creating usable, accessible, responsive websites in the new brand. Our effort began with idea that if we build they will come. Then we received support from the top administration and switched gears to enterprise CMS -- a fully customized WordPress multisite.

We have spent a year identifying our Phase I priorities and needs, re-tooling our platform, training users and continual, iterative development of new functions and features. Through collaboration with an advisory committee and regular feedback and reporting on progress, we are currently at 233 (this number grows daily) sites completed with 181 in development and many more expected over the next year.

Our latest endeavor is to expand the development of the platform from our core team to include a network of developers across campus.

Presenter

Kim Charles

Headshot of Kim Charles
Director of Digital Communications, University of Illinois at Chicago

Kim Charles has worked on small and large websites at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) for nearly 20 years, relying on her experience in internal and external communications, integrated marketing and library and information science.

For the past year, Kim has worked as the business/UX lead for UIC's migration from decentralized, multi-platform web development to a single WordPress multisite in partnership with UIC's central IT web services team.

An integral leader in website strategies at UIC, she has worked to make information more easily accessible for students, faculty and the public. Her primary focus is the effort to prioritize content and the development of mission-critical websites, while overseeing information architecture, content management, usability, accessibility – all while maintaining consistent brand identity standards, and measuring analytics.

In her free time, you will find Kim reading, researching the latest in technology, or biking along one of the many Chicago paths with her husband and two sons.

Sessions

  • General Lecture Session: From grassroots to enterprise CMS: how we are creating consistency of brand, responsiveness and accessibility

Session video

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