It goes without saying that for almost all organizations their website is a vital communications tool – and St. Michaels University School is no different.
SMUS’s web presence is our global ‘shop window’ for families interested in a SMUS education. It is also a hub for hundreds of users every day who visit the main site at smus.ca and the SMUSpaper (news.smus.ca) to traffic between digital spaces, read the latest news, sign up for an alumni event, make an online donation, check to see if it is a snow day, learn about bus routes, discover what is for lunch in the Sun Centre and so on.
But like all technology there comes a time when it is necessary to make an upgrade and we are asking for your feedback to help us in this process.
When our current website was built in 2011, it was, by all accounts, an excellent website (and indeed still wins occasional praise). However, like your cellphone or laptop, what was once shiny and new can quickly become outmoded.
Identified as a key project by the Head of School, we have begun to set in motion the process of rebuilding the SMUS website. While most websites are evolutions; this will be the first top-to-bottom, technical, visual and content rebuild in a decade. Much has changed in the field of website design and development, and we’re looking forward to implementing these changes, however be assured that the principles of accessibility, usability and inclusion remain at the core. After a thorough review process, we selected Domain7, a Vancouver-based digital agency with a diverse portfolio of clients in and outside of education, to support us on this journey.
Your feedback
As we work on this not insignificant task we ask that you – our website users – help us by providing some feedback on our current main external facing websites at smus.ca (including smus.ca/alumni) and news.smus.ca. As users of the website and consumers of its information, your views will help us create a picture of what we need to do to make an improved website that best serves your information needs.
We have created a survey and the survey is open to everyone, including students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff. Basically if you're reading this article, you are someone we want to hear from! The survey should take only a few minutes to complete and it will be open until Monday, February 15.
Thank you in advance for your time and thoughts. If you have any questions about the website rebuild or would like to provide additional feedback, please send an email to [email protected].