Structuring a School or College Website for Multiple Audiences

A school or college website isn't really one website serving one audience. It is a shared digital resource used by parents, students, teachers, alumni, prospective students, regulators and several other stakeholders.

As we design websites for schools and colleges we always need to keep in mind the multiple audiences that will use the site and make sure they get the necessary information quickly and easily.

The various stakeholders in a school or college website

A typical school or college website caters to the following people:

• Parents
• Students
• Teachers / Professors / Staff
• Alumni
• Accreditation Agencies

Each of the above cohorts has unique as well as overlapping functionality which we will look at below in some more detail.

Parents – The key decision makers

Students in India generally do not decide which school or college to enrol in, it’s the parents. This is the first and most important group that the school or college website needs to cater to.

So what are parents looking for?

• Is the educational institution reputable and accredited?
• Does it have the necessary courses for their children?
• Will my child be safe? Are there policies for bullying and grievances?
• Do the facilities look modern and well maintained?
• Admission information, eligibility criteria, fees, application procedures and merit lists.
• For colleges, is there a good chance of placement after the course?
• For schools, what is the pass rate and distinction rate of the institute in the board exams?

A good college site ensures the above are clearly covered through an easy to use navigation that highlights each of these aspects of the institution.

Students – the main user cohort for the site

Needless to say, the students are the key stakeholders in the website. After all, everything has been designed to ultimately serve them.

We can divide the student’s requirements into two sections – Pre-Admission and Post-Admission.

The pre-admission concerns are very similar to that of their parents, only they might give more importance to how cool the college looks and does it have a nice canteen etc. They would also look for the college culture with clubs and extra-curricular activities they can join.

For Post-admission the following areas are important

• Posting of important notices and information
• Posting of time tables and schedules
• Posting of exam schedules and related information
• Information about the various clubs and extra-curricular activities such as college festivals
• Sharing of achievements by the college in sports and other activities
• Easy access to Anti-Ragging and Grievance related resources in case something has gone wrong. (Important!)
• For colleges, recruitment related information and for schools pass rate and distinction related information which tells them the baseline.

Of course this is by no means an exhaustive list. There are a lot of other smaller and subtler areas that the website can serve for students.

Teachers / Professors / Staff – An often-overlooked audience

It’s easy to overlook this group and focus exclusively on parents and students needs. But the institutional website can be of good use to the teachers as well.

What they can get from the website includes:

• A well-presented profile highlighting their qualifications, experience and areas of expertise.
• Highlight their personal achievements e.g. If they achieve a PhD, win an award or are mentioned in a scholarly journal.
• Highlight their research work (if any)
• A section with resources they can access for either administration work or teaching purposes.
• Highlight their contributions to student achievements
• Highlight their contributions to the institution overall.

A motivated and dedicated cadre of teachers can take the institution to the next level and the website must be designed to support and encourage their efforts.

Alumni – A dedicated and loyal cohort to the institution

Once you pass out of an institution it remains as a part of you. As the alumni grow in their careers and lives they can give back a lot to their alma maters. If the school or college has a strong alumni network then the website can become a vital link to them.

For alumni the site can

• Help register alumni for the network
• Highlight achievements of the alumni
• List information about alumni related events and activities
• Advise them on how they can help the institute either monetarily or in kind.

Accreditation Agencies – A painful but necessary part of the education ecosystem.

Most schools and colleges need to meet accreditation and regulatory requirements, with bodies such as NAAC and NBA playing important roles depending on the institution and programme. This is usually a long and difficult process in which a website becomes a vital resource to showcase the different facets of the institution.

For example, NAAC has over seven main criteria each with dozens of sub criteria which also have further sub criteria. These are uploaded and documented on their website.

Each agency has its own requirements and the website becomes a critical component of get the much needed accreditation.

In conclusion

A school or college website needs to be designed to seamlessly deliver value to all of the many stakeholders in its ecosystem. The information has to be well laid out and easy to navigate. Each group should be able to find what they need easily and should be designed to make sense and avoid any confusion.

A successful educational website isn't one that simply contains a lot of information. It is one that presents the right information to the right audience at the right time.

Managing and maintaining a school or college website is not an easy task. But with a capable partner like us, it can be a very valuable resource for the institution.