We talked with Evan Linza, Web Developer about managing the University websites, working with the marketing team, and helping to improve accessibility.
About Alfred University
Alfred University, located in New York State, supports a diverse body of around 2,000 students. The institution prides itself on blending academic excellence with personalized learning experiences. The web and digital content team is part of the Information Technology Services (ITS) division, allowing close collaboration with network managers for seamless website management.
Evan Linza, the university’s primary web developer, manages both internal (My AU) and external (www.alfred.edu) websites, working closely with the marketing team. His role includes overseeing website accessibility, content auditing, and ensuring compliance with web standards. With around 3,000 web pages across both platforms, the web team at Alfred University faces the challenge of maintaining an accessible, up-to-date, and user-friendly website.
The challenge
Before adopting Silktide, Alfred University struggled to ensure that its website met accessibility standards and was optimized for the best user experience. The primary concerns included identifying and fixing broken links, optimizing images, and ensuring compliance with screen readers and other accessibility tools.
Without a comprehensive auditing tool, the university found it difficult to track issues on their site, especially as the website grew. As Evan explained, “If we didn’t have Silktide, we would honestly be putting out pages and just have basically an issue of worrying all the time if something’s working or not.” Additionally, past legal concerns surrounding accessibility made it crucial for the university to avoid compliance issues in the future.
The solution
Evan and his team chose Silktide as the ideal solution for auditing the university’s digital content and ensuring compliance with accessibility standards. The platform allows them to quickly scan web pages, identify issues, and receive actionable feedback on how to resolve them.
“Silktide audits the pages for us as we’re building them,” Evan said. “It really does audit the pages for broken links, images that aren’t optimized, and screen reader issues, which would have scared me before.” This real-time feedback not only helps the team correct issues before they escalate but also ensures that the university’s content is accessible to all users.
Silktide has helped us catch some simple things, like buttons that aren’t accessible or videos that stop loading, which we can now fix before they become a problem.
Web Developer, Alfred University
How Alfred University uses Silktide
Alfred University uses Silktide extensively to audit its two main websites: the internal My AU site, which contains resources for faculty and staff, and the public-facing marketing website. The My AU site requires frequent updates and changes, often by various contributors across departments. To manage this, Alfred University ensures that all contributors receive proper training before accessing editing tools. The Silktide platform has become integral in maintaining content accuracy and accessibility.
The marketing site focuses on attracting prospective students, and Silktide plays a vital role in ensuring the site remains compliant and error-free. Evan highlighted how the tool helps manage these tasks: “We use Silktide throughout the process, from running new templates to performing final checks. It ensures accessibility and saves us a lot of time.”
Silktide’s analytics tools have also become a valuable resource for the university, as Evan noted: “Anytime I want to see how many visitors we have, I’ll usually be on Silktide, checking the data versus Google Analytics.” This helps the team make data-driven decisions without the complexities of external platforms.
It saved us a bunch of time. I’d say maybe even a whole business day a week if we had to manually scan all our pages for what’s working or not.
Web Developer, Alfred University
Results
By adopting Silktide, Alfred University has improved its overall workflow, increased the accessibility of its websites, and saved time in managing web content. Evan was quick to recommend the platform, stating, “Just get on a call with Silktide and try it out. It’s been great so far, and it saved us a bunch of time.”
With Silktide, Alfred University can efficiently manage thousands of pages while ensuring they meet both accessibility standards and user expectations. The platform has become an indispensable part of the university’s web strategy, offering peace of mind and reducing the risks associated with web accessibility issues.
The biggest thing I love about Silktide is how easy it is to follow. It explains why something needs to be fixed and how you can fix it.
Web Developer, Alfred University
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