The University of the Virgin Islands began Fall 2013 with the launch of the next generation of its website – www.uvi.edu. The new website is responsive, user friendly and designed to meet the needs of all UVI’s stakeholders. “The newly designed website opens a brilliant window into UVI so that the world will better understand our uniqueness and value,” said UVI President Dr. David Hall. “This new design will make it easier for our students, faculty and staff to quickly secure the information they need to achieve their goals." In 2012, Dr. Hall made the website redesign one of his presidential goals. The new website went live on Aug. 17.
UVI Webmaster Moneca Pinkett led the committee that began working on the new site last fall. “The new website takes UVI to the next level,” said Pinkett. “The next generation of the UVI Website allows us to tell our story through social media, YouTube, iPhones, iPads, Androids phones and through the website itself.” UVI’s new homepage showcases the University’s success stories with a wide full-color slideshow that continuously updates. The website uses responsive design to resize itself to fit large or small devices from cellphones to large screen televisions. The site is Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant for assistive devices. It has social media integration that allows students to post UVI information on their Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. All of the navigation menus were completely revamped for user friendly audience and task based navigation. This allows students, faculty, staff, the community and prospective students to have all the information pertinent to them in one place.
“It is my hope that the new website will serve users from all walks of life,” Pinkett said. “As our primary international marketing tool, we hope to present exciting, relevant, accurate and timely information on the new website. UVI has a lot of hidden treasures and successes that we can now highlight in a more attractive, engaging platform.” The new website has a wealth of information on UVI’s 43 academic programs, including nine associates, 27 bachelors and seven graduate degrees. The new life-long learners gateway has information about all continuing education programs.
The next generation of www.uvi.edu was created in nine months. The website committee modeled the site after reviewing the last two years of the best practices of award winning university websites. Three firms collaborated to redesign UVI’s website. Beacon Technologies is the website design firm. The content management system was developed and is managed by Hannon Hill and TW Telecom is the service provider for the server. "The website redesign process is a compelling reminder of what a group of creative and dedicated individuals, with the assistance of experts in the field, can achieve within a few months,” said Dr. Hall. “I am very proud of the 'new face' of UVI." This is UVI’s first site-wide redesign since 2008.