About

Founded in 1873, Southeast Missouri State University (www.semo.edu) has a proud history of excellence in education. First founded as a teacher’s college, the institution has grown into a comprehensive University with more than 150 academic programs in five colleges and schools.

Challenge

Admissions research indicates that 70 percent of prospective students first encounter the University through visiting the 10,000-page Web site. Southeast places heavy emphasis on ensuring that each visitor has a seamless and valuable experience while exploring the site. Southeast executed a site redesign and selected Open Text Web Solutions to streamline the content management process.

Prior to Open Text Web Solutions, each unit at the University was developing their own navigation and design based on University Web Guidelines. The Integrated Marketing Committee was concerned that the University’s audiences, particularly prospective students, could not get where they wanted to go and could not easily access the information tailored to their needs.

From a marketing standpoint, Southeast needed a solution that would enable them to unify the design and content of the Web site delivering a consistent brand to all various audiences.  The new Web site is published at least twice a day with an average of ten updates per publication.

Southeast also needed a solution that would enable them to adhere to the Section 508 (29 U.S.C ‘794d) Rehabilitation Act. In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technologies accessible to people with disabilities.  Open Text Web Solutions offers numerous features to help Southeast maintain compliance.

Overall Project Goals:

• Needed to enhance Web site to ensure a valuable experience for prospective students
• Site redesign needed to ensure Section 508 Compliance
• Needed a solution that would enable them to unify the design and content of the Web site
  

Solution

Prior to Open Text Web Solutions, there was no central content control and each department at Southeast had the ability to create their own content, design and navigation. Additionally, many units had students with HTML or Microsoft FrontPage skills who were counted on to design pages and post content.

Open Text Web Solutions’ functionality enabled a central content control point, with proper roles and authorizations to allow the creation and maintenance of consistent navigation and design. Furthermore, Open Text Web Solutions' ease of use allowed users without any HTML skills to manage and control their own content. Southeast also relies on the product’s redlining feature to compare versions and changes made to specific content, thus facilitating consistency throughout content prepared for publishing.

Open Text Web Solutions enabled a central content control point, with proper roles and authorizations

Allowed the creation and maintenance of consistent navigation and design

Users without any HTML skills can now manage and control their own content

Results

The most important aspects of the site redesign were to create consistency and enable Section 508 compliance for those with disabilities. Since implementing Open Text Web Solutions, Southeast was able to quickly increase the consistency of content and design throughout the thousands of pages of the Web site.

“Before we implemented Open Text Web Solutions, many departments depended on students with HTML or FrontPage knowledge to update their sites,” said Michele Elder, Manager, Web Design and Support, Southeast Missouri State University. “Now Open Text Web Solutions has provided us with a sophisticated user interface with dynamic functionality that enables our staff to manage their content on their own, regardless of technical ability.  Our users will be able to get more done in a shorter period of time.”

Open Text Web Solutions enabled Southeast to integrate content responsibilities across different audience sections.  Furthermore, they can now easily ensure that their Web pages are compatible for those with disabilities.

• Southeast quickly increased the consistency of content and design throughout the site
• Staff now manages their own content
• Users will be able to accomplish more in a shorter period of time
• Web pages are now Section 508 compliant

Facts and Figures

Customer: Southeast Missouri State University

URL: www.semo.edu

Project time: From training to launch - 4 months

Launch of the site: 8/21/03

Largest challenge: Consistent design, navigation and content

Volume of Site: Approximately 1,500 pages in the first phase, the new site will eventually contain more than 10,000 pages.