Web Professionals

Carolina's Community of Digital Creators and Communicators

Category: Presentations (Page 1 of 7)

Web Professionals Catch Up – October 2023 Recap

November 10, 2023 /

This will be a low-key town-hall style Zoom meeting to discuss the future of the UNC Web Professionals Group and to share a little of what Team members learned at last week’s HighEdWeb conference in Buffalo.

Date: Friday, October 27
Time: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: Zoom
Hosts: Rachell Underhill, Gia Branciforte, Paul Cardillo, Daniel Reeves

Presentation Recap and Notes

Agenda

  • Welcome – Rachell
  • We’re still here – Daniel
    • Depth and Breadth of group, goals
    • Previous presentations
  • Who are you? – Gia
  • High Ed Web Recap – Paul
  • Questions and Feedback

Meeting Items

During Meeting

Notes

  • Attendees
    • Count: 42
  • Rachell Underhill: Intro
    • History
    • Web Redesign for the Graduate School
    • History
      • Group History
        • UNC History
        • UNC Web History
      • Current Group
  • Daniel Reeves: What we do
    • What we do overview
    • Examples of past presentations (see list above for more information)
  • Gia Branciforte: Introduction
    • History
    • Current Engagement
      • No leadership level person currently
      • More collaborative
    • Polls and Survey
  • Paul Cardillo: Introduction
    • History
    • Provides Office Hours for any Web.UNC issues
    • Teams and membership logistics
      • Information about how to get access to the team
    • High Ed Web Conference – Buffalo
      • The conference was the impetus for this meeting
      • We are all in a similar boat and trying to do much with few resources
      • Steering the Circus Presentation
      • Rachell Underhill’s Presentation
        • 6 minute video of the process she used in her redesign of the website
      • General Conversation about the conference
  • Open Floor
    • Providing a space for all to talk about the conference or anything relevant
    • Group sharing
      • Networking groups around campus are coming back together
      • Web Professionals would love to connect with and collaborate on value to campus

Questions

  • Question about scope of this group: As a custom web developer, will this group be beneficial for him?
    • Daniel Reeves described how the group has helped him in his role as a custom application developer.

Proposed changes to web.unc.edu hosting – February 2020 Recap

February 13, 2020 /

Proposed changes to web.unc.edu

  • ITS-Digital Services wants your feedback!  
  • We are moving hosted WordPress websites to the cloud, and we’re proposing changes to web.unc.edu. Come hear our proposal to address and improve digital accessibility and university branding.
  • If you have a site hosted on web.unc.edu you’ll want to weigh in on these ideas!

Date: RESCHEDULED   Thursday, Feb 13th
Time: RESCHEDULED – 2:30-3:30
Location:  Graduate Student Center
Presenter: Kim Vassiliadis, ITS-Digital Services

Presentation Slides

Proposed Changes to web.unc.edu presentation slides (pdf)

Presentation Recap and Notes

  • Moving to the cloud
    • Contact signed with Pantheon
    • ITS is paying for the hosting
    • Primary focus is environments ITS manages
      • Web Dot network
        • Self service
        • WP Multi-site
      • Sites Dot network
        • Enterprise
        • Departmental
        • WP hosting
      • unc.edu
        • Stand alone installation
  • Opportunities
    • Rethink offerings
    • Address university branding
    • Address digital accessibility
    • Educate users: website ownership
  • Current Multi-site
    • Currently ~5K sites
    • 9 Themes
    • 50+ Plugins shared
  • Recent sites created
    • Sites created since September
    • ~700 sites
    • Numbers
      • 83% were created by student
        • Most were for classes
        • Some for Resume
        • Few for other reasons
      • 17% were created by employees
  • WebDotUNC
    • By default setup as a web.unc.edu domain with your site name
    • Example site – Vaccines
      • Concerns
        • Copyrighted material
        • Accessible
        • Information Literacy
        • Has a .unc.edu domain
  • Employee Sites
    • Roughly evenly split between the different use reasons
      • Lab Sites
      • Associations
      • Professional Faculty Sites
      • Personal Faculty Sites
  • Proposal
    • Rename the network from web.unc.edu to some name that does not imply the authority of the university
    • Has some affiliation, but not an official page/site
    • Could be either a subdomain or a slash URL name
      • Ex: sitename.tarheel.live vs. tarheel.live/sitename
    • Criteria for a unc.edu domain
      • Site Must
        • Represent the university
        • Meet baseline accessibility requirements
          • Attend an accessibility training within a semester/year
        • The site must qualify and the site/content managers require training for this level
  • Kim’s questions
    • Is tarheel.live effective?
    • Do we grandfather in existing 5K sites?
      • On request?
    • How should we handle faculty/personal sites going forward?
    • Other suggestions?
  • Ownership transfer
    • Could have a process to change ownership of a site (ex: student site a professor wants to keep)
    • This way content can persist beyond
  • New workflow
    • All sites would start at the tarheel.live
    • There would be a request process to move to a unc.edu domain
  • Should we have this [website hosting] service at all?
    • There are free services available
    • But, this service is 10 years old and we are reticent to discontinue it at this point
  • How to manage older sites?
    • Have decommissioned
  • If you are a lab, and you are spinning it up, how to have banner removed?
    • Could be a request process?
    • Could be moving the site to unc.edu instead
  • Archive
    • We don’t want to become an archive for old sites
    • Can work with university archive services to capture the content but retire the site.
  • SiteImprove Tool
    • Researched accessibility tools, received help from people to test
    • Just decided on SiteImprove recently and working with different groups to provide access
    • Want to make it so webmasters can scan the various site they manage
    • Pilot members
    • Will it cover login sites?
      • Working on that now
      • Can scan the content

Questions and Discussion

  • How much will visual branding be required for the initial move?
    • That conversation will come in a later phase
  • Suggestion to use the subdomain path
    • There are challenges to both approaches
  • Distinction between official sites and personal/student sites, this is WordPress and this is free for many, what about putting a banner denoting it is not an official site?
    • Not sure if it will help us legally, but there is a perception that it would divorce us from the direct connection
  • Have you discussed building a form for sign up that qualifies people as they fill it out?
    • Yes, but we want to see on the back-end that you are doing your due diligence before getting a unc.edu site
  • Advantage to separate URL?
    • Can have the default domain go to an explanation page
  • How to handle domain mapped URLs?
    • May leave as is for now and circle back when we have the initial phase complete
  • Thinking about GDPR in this process?
    • Not been given any guidance so far
  • How will the current URLs redirect?
    • That plan is in the works but not finalized at this point
  • What is the cost of the subdomain vs. subdirectory?
    • One cost for a subdirectory but each subdomain could have a cost associated with them
  • Theming thoughts? Will we get away from the bootstrap shortcuts?
    • Yes
    • They are in discussions about shared elements
    • Look at the oxygen builder that can take the place of a theme
      • Super fast
      • Can create design without themes
  • Could you have a structure where you ask for the life-time of the site?
    • That way you can put a timeline on the site
    • The person would need to think about how long the site would need to stay on the web.
  • If I am a professor, what are my options? Does the site need to be indexed and searchable to everyone in the world?
    • Could there be checkboxes for various options? Google Indexing for example?
    • Could setup the Tarheel.live sites so they don’t index by default and have some process for becoming indexed
    • Kim looked at other University offerings and few institutions provide the infrastructure that UNC does
      • Many have some space for personal
  • Is it possible to have a branch that the class sites go to that can be temporary and expire and those who want a longer lifetime could take a different path?
    • Could use a directory value (LDAP values) to identify users
  • Could there be an automated way to decommission unless people want to keep it?
    • Essentially, you get a site for a year
    • At the 11 month mark (or some other time), send an email reminding them to request another year.
    • For high-level users, they could be higher on the radar for the digital services group
  • Require second admin
    • Could require someone as a second admin if the site is important
    • Might be some cases where people leave and the site needs to persist
  • For the official work sites, will it be the same functionality as current (plugin restrictions, themes, etc.)?
    • Shifting what we have for now
    • Want to examine this at a later date
  • CloudApps has similar issues? How to handle?
    • Have not started that conversation yet, but a good idea
    • Inactive sites spin down over time, so may not be a pressing issues
  • Are absolved from the accessibility rules with the tarheel.live?
    • No but it does make a difference
    • We need to do what we can, where we can
    • Baby steps to make things better
  • What if the URL was students.unc.edu?
    • Just because you are using tarheel.live, it is still UNC related
    • Investigated using sandbox accounts in the platform
      • Tested it with students in a class to see the feasibility
      • It was a disaster, difficult to use,
      • If the site became a “successful” site, there would be a payment structure required
  • Cost?
    • There is no cost at this time
    • Will be covered by ITS
  • What could this move provide for us?
    • Free up time on the Digital Services team
    • A more robust and effective method for rolling out plugins
  • Will ITS allow sliders on sites?
    • Starting to phase out sliders.
    • Old sites are grandfathered in but new sites will not allow it
    • But they are not accessible, can trap keyboard users
    • Design is moving away from this now (make the logo big and make the logo bigger!)
  • Referring to old assignments
    • Faculty like to link to previous assignments and work
    • How to handle this persistence?
    • Need to consider if the student

Plain Language Matters: creating web content that is accessible, usable and understood – November 2019 Recap

November 8, 2019 /

Plain Language Matters: creating web content that is accessible, usable and understood

  • Learn how research-supported plain language strategies can improve the user experience, save staff time, and help you achieve your communication goals.
  • The primary focus will be on website content, but these strategies can be used with any form of communication, including email, social media, or print media.
  • Plain language is an important part of digital accessibility compliance but applying these techniques will make all of your communications more effective, no matter the audience.

Date: Thursday, November 7, 2019
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (30 minutes of extra time if needed)
Location:  Graduate Student Center
Presenter: Rachell Underhill, Director of Web and Information Systems, The Graduate School

Presentation Slides

Presentation Handouts

Resources

Tools

Training

Accessibility & the Digital Accessibility Office – September 2019 Recap

October 2, 2019 /

The Digital Accessibility Office (DAO) will join us to share an overview of their initiatives, service catalog, and resource offerings. This meeting will be a great foundation for an open conversation about creating a culture of accessibility at Carolina. The DAO hopes to listen to your concerns, identify your priorities, and work with you to develop an action plan toward an accessible digital presence.

  • Location: Graduate Student Center (211A W. Cameron Ave.)
  • Date: Friday, September 20, 2019
  • Time: 1:00 – 2:00 PM
  • Presenters:
    • Brad Held, Team Lead
    • Kat Moore, Development and Design Consultant
    • Sarah Arnold, User Experience and Development Consultant
    • Doug Schepers, Training and Application Consultant

Presentation Files
(courtesy of the Digital Accessibility Office )

Meeting Recap and Notes

Notes coming soon…..

Podcasts: What you need to know when creating podcasts – June 2019 – Recap

June 13, 2019 /

June Webmasters Meeting Details:

Date:                                     Thursday, June 6th

Time:                                    2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (30 minutes of extra time if needed)

Location:                             Graduate Student Center (211-A W. Cameron Ave.)

Presenter(s):                    Brandon Bieltz from University Communication and Winifred Metz from the Undergraduate Library’s Media Resources Center.

Presentation Topic:     Our June Webmasters session will be devoted to podcasts and best practices when creating them. You will also learn about equipment, resources, and studio space available to the UNC community.

Presentations and links:

Meeting Recap and Notes:

Part 1: Well Said Podcast

How it was launched – pitched by Brandon as

  • Cheap
  • Quick and high quality (turned out NOT to be quick – 15 minutes took about six hours of work)
  • A way to reach new audiences (audience turned out to be exactly the same as before)
  • An additional asset to add to the current strategy
  • A way to highlight university experts – a way to create/demonstrate news readiness

Initial Plan

  • TIP: Get high quality equipment for best sound
  • Used soundbox and cheap condenser microphones
  • Laptop computer
  • Created a regular schedule so people know what to expect
  • Needed several episodes before launch
  • Hosting in SoundCloud (there are better options out there, BlueBerry)
  • Published on several platforms (Stitcher, iTunes, SoundCloud)

Early Stages

  • Practiced audio editing by watching YouTube videos
  • Created bad audio situations (test episodes) that would need editing to practice solutions
  • First podcast was Bubba Cunningham – 1 week before NCAA tourney. – easy to sell

Challenges

  • No space (mobile technology came in handy, but no podcast was the same because locations changed every time)
  • Can fit all equipment needed into a milk-crate if needed
  • Promoting a podcast is a nightmare (took a lot of trial and error to figure it out)

Things learned

  • Algorithms ignore you unless/until you have several podcasts published
  • Needed more defined goals to base growth off of
  • Thought the podcast could “talk” to everybody, but ended up focusing on UNC students, faculty, staff, etc.
  • First season had 2,659 listeners – increased by 94% by making changes
  • Went from interviewing to storytelling (scriptwriting, sound effects, music – this increased production time to approx 12 hrs)
  • If you can’t explain why this will benefit you, then it’s probably not worth it
  • The first season will be bad, you have to be willing to stick it out to get it up and going
  • Went from a team of 1 to a team of 4 to sustain and grow the podcast, with a significant increase in the financial investment

Part 2: MRC Overview

  • Focuses on faculty and students, but also supports staff when time permits
  • Is an Adobe partner so software is used/supported
  • Has a suite of audio/video editing stations
  • Has a podcast studio for audio capture with mixer and multiple microphones – users bring their own laptops
  • Has audio/video equipment available for checkout (recommend that you reserve equipment weeks in advance)
  • Mid-range quality on technology with a blend of old (dependable) and new
  • Provide skillful tech classes
  • Provide tutorials and guides to help with developing and producing audio/video/digital design products
  • Has an online podcast storyboard template to walk users through the development process
  • Provide in-person help with story arc and digital story creation
  • Can visit their website to learn more about equipment, trainings, support, etc. and to make reservations or appointments: https://library.unc.edu/house/mrc/

Questions and Answers

How long is the basic podcast training?

Winifred: It takes about 2.5 hours for us to train you from conceptualization to creation.

Equipment recommendations? 

Winifred and Brandon: Use directional microphones. You get what you pay for.

How do you target audiences?

Brandon: We use targeted marketing based on interests and age level. We use Facebook to target specific groups by topic.

Do you use cover art?

Brandon: Cover art is very important, students said they often choose podcasts based on cover art

Do you use sound dampening?

Brandon: No we remove excess sound in post production. Egg crate type foam can make a big difference.

Do you use scripts?

Brandon: No I refer to an outline in my notebook. The guest does not use a script.

Do you ever have problems with verbal tics?

Brandon: Biggest problem is when speakers “roll” through sentences without breaks. We ask them to repeat themselves slowly and carefully.

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