Search all of our posts
Improvements to accordions
Frequent users of the University website may have noticed a visual change to the accordion patterns. We have applied some much needed improvements to the accordion pattern in line with the design methodology of GOV.UK. Problems with the old accordions Use of colour The old accordions used our primary blue as an accent colour. This colour…
19 February 2019Digital pattern library
Making the University website accessible
New regulations which affect the University of St Andrews came into force on the 23 September 2018. These regulations state that a public sector body website must meet certain accessibility standards and publish an accessibility statement before the 23 September 2020. This post introduces the accessibility standards that need to be met, provides some basic…
13 February 2019Accessibility
Choosing image backgrounds for hero banners
Selection criteria for images appropriate for hero banners can be quite complicated. There are plenty of stunning photographs that would work well to welcome positive first impressions of a website, but are they fit for purpose?
11 February 2019Design
Why to avoid marketese on the web
Marketese is a writing style which favours promotional, self-congratulatory and boastful language over technical and objective wording. At the University of St Andrews, we aim to avoid using marketese on the web at all costs.
7 February 2019Content
The meeting formerly known as ‘DAB’
The Digital Advisory Board (DAB) has been replaced with the Digital Forum. The Digital Forum will take place on the last Wednesday afternoon of each month. All staff are welcome to attend. The format of the Digital Forum will be presentations, discussions and workshops. The Digital Forum will continue to provide updates on digital services…
4 February 2019Articles and resources Team
Top areas of school websites
The digital communications team have reviewed the University’s academic Schools website traffic to determine what the most popular parts of the websites are.
23 January 2019Data
2018 social media review
2018 saw another busy year for the University’s official social media channels. During the last 12 months, we have been working hard to increase our presence on social media by building our audience. To do this, we have been sharing posts aimed to encourage discussion and also to showcase the St Andrews student experience to…
21 January 2019Social Media
New University library homepage
On Monday 13 January 2019, the digital communications team launched an improved University library homepage. This update was made in light of the feedback gathered by library staff in focus groups and from the design sprint we ran in October 2018. The updated homepage was made to improve the library’s digital experience. This post looks…
18 January 2019External website redevelopments
Winter Graduation 2018 live stream data
On Thursday 6 and Friday 7 December 2018, four graduation ceremonies were streamed live on the University website. These streams were accessible via YouTube and were embedded on one page of the University website. We also setup an alternative webpage embedding a stream feed with lower bandwidth primarily for users who have no access to…
8 January 2019Data
IT security event
We were pleased to attend the IT Services security event on Thursday 8 November 2018, which hosted a number of interesting speakers from different IT security specialisms. The event provided a deeper awareness of IT security from an insider’s perspective and the essential work that individuals and organisations in this industry do to manage and…
17 December 2018Articles and resources