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How to make videos accessible with closed captions
Subtitles are transcripts of a video’s dialogue or audio contained in SubRip (SRT) files that are attached to videos. They provide context and clarity to video content.
21 June 2019Accessibility
What is a GIF file?
If you’ve scrolled through any social media feeds today, it’s likely you’ll have encountered a few GIF files (pronounced JIF…although personally I’m in the hard ‘G’ camp).
14 June 2019Technology
All about newsletters
On Wednesday 29 May, the digital communications team hosted the May Digital Forum, which was one of our most popular meetings to date! The subject of this forum was ‘all about newsletters’ and was an opportunity to discuss newsletter best practice, the digital communications newsletter and the use of Sway as a newsletter alternative. There…
10 June 2019Digital Forum
Student design sprint prototype
On behalf of the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) project Board, the digital communications team hosted a design sprint with students to help redesign certain elements of the student portal.
5 June 2019Design
Revised T4v8 training
As more staff members are gaining access to T4v8, I have noticed that undertaking training in T4v8 does not necessarily always equate to understanding or comprehending the training. Therefore, I have introduced a new assessment element to the T4v8 training to make sure staff have gained the required knowledge and skills to successfully be a…
30 May 2019Training
New School websites usability findings
Two weeks ago I conducted usability testing on the design for the new School websites on behalf of the Business Transformation Board who are running the Academic School Websites project. This project seeks to update and redesign the existing School websites using the digital pattern library (DPL). This post provides a summary of the test and…
23 May 2019Usability
Capitalising job titles: an update to University house style
For those familiar with the University house style, you will know that the digital communications team advises against the unnecessary use of capital letters on web pages. This includes the capitalisation of page titles, team names and job titles.
29 April 2019Content
Hero banner redesign
We have taken feedback into consideration and optimised the hero banner used for home pages. The current hero banner has been in effect since 2015 with minor adjustments to improve accessibility over time.
19 April 2019Design
How to add image files to T4v8
Image files are the most common items which are incorrectly added to the University’s content management system, TerminalFour (T4). This post provides a step-by-step guide to uploading image files correctly to T4v8. If you have questions about uploading media to T4v7, please contact the digital communications trainer, Jennifer Hamrick, by emailing digitalcommunications@st-andrews.ac.uk. 1. Prepare your…
11 April 2019Training
What is a JPEG file?
If you’ve ever moved photographs from a digital camera to a computer before, you’ll have encountered the JPEG (pronounced jay-peg) file format. These files will end with .jpg or .jpeg. What is a JPEG? A JPEG is a standardised lossy compression mechanism for digital images. Digital cameras compress raw photographs as JPEG images to make…
8 April 2019Technology