CALS Rethink Project Leads,
I wanted to update you on our progress on the Website Rethink Project. Since September, we've focused our efforts on building out the framework of our new design, identifying new modules to help us display our content in new ways. Primacy's development team has started working on the new Drupal 8 environment and Cornell's CIT Custom Development Team has finished their code remediation of our existing sites' themes for accessibility. We're moving forward at a good pace and are looking forward to what's to come. Expect more regular updates throughout 2019.
March Visit for Design
The week of March 11, our partner Primacy is returning to campus to share new page designs for the CALS homepage and top-level pages of most departments/academic units and our other main programs. They need your feedback and we want your input. Look for an email next Thursday, February 28 to schedule time to engage in conversations about the new designs.
April Visit for Content and Testing
During the third week in April, Primacy will review the content strategy for the new site and share a first look at the new editing interface in Drupal 8. They will do some user testing with members of the CALS community to make sure the site is working for our audiences as well. Look for an email in the next few weeks to schedule some time to engage in this next stage of the project.
Website Rollout
We're finalizing the process by which we bring sites into the new Drupal 8 environment. We're looking for a Fall/Winter 2019 launch of the core CALS website, and we're putting the finishing touches on our rollout strategy for the launch of the remaining sites in the CALS web system. We will work directly with academic units and other programs in 2020-2021 to organize your relaunches. As soon as the plan is finalized, I will share it with you in detail.
Web Accessibility
CALS still needs to meet the end of December 2019 deadline to make sure our sites are web accessible. We will work with you starting in July to get our sites' content to meet those standards. If you have the time, start now by removing PDFs and website content you have identified as out-of-date or no longer needed from your sites. I'll be scheduling some webinars to help contributors better understand and start this process.
If you have questions, I'm here to answer them. Email me at tls245 [at] cornell.edu (tls245[at]cornell[dot]edu)!
Tim Senft,
Digital Communications Director
