RCC Website Redesign + CMS Upgrade

RCC website upgrade in 2022 — A view of the old (pre-July 2022) Roxbury Community College website on the left, and the new one (post July 2022) to the right.

As part of a major website redesign project in 2021-22, Roxbury Community College (RCC) set out to adopt a new Content Management System (OmniCMS by Modern Campus) and overhaul the existing website information architecture.

Design Challenges
After the implementation of the original stylesheet, we rapidly realized how many templates and code needed adjustment to make content display properly from a design and accessibility-based perspective.

We continue to make adjustments to the site components and snippets to ensure brand adherence and accessibility.

Through the use of aria-controls and Schemas from schema.org, we've made frequently used code – in this case, our Accordion format which expands or minimizes a section of content – content blocks so they're accessible to those using screen readers.

To make these tiles accessible, we needed to introduce more contrast to help the user read the text more easily.

Automating Data Connections with Directory, Course Schedule, and Program Landing Pages
Historically, the data pertaining to the school directory, course schedule, and program requirements were updated manually. In many cases, this led to outdated content that grew over time.

Through automated XML files that pick up any changes to the Directory (from Active Directory), Program Requirements (Jenzabar) and Course Schedule (Jenzabar), these important points of data are updated continuously.

These efforts have saved us countless hours and will ensure data integrity for the future iterations of RCC's website.

RCC Directory

Creating Intranet
Within the same Content Management System, an Intranet resource has been built on the templates and design of the external RCC website. This continues to evolve while trying to represent a format of communication and editing that works well across all constituencies at RCC.

Training the Community
While the RCC website and CMS continues to be refined to reflect the college in the best possible light, I look forward to creating training programs for our colleagues to utilize the content editor end of OmniCMS to encourage content updates and familiarity with the site's architecture.