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Tufts University Web site to undergo major renovations

    Tufts' Web designers will be busy this spring renovating the Tufts Web site by revamping the site's format, style and coding by this summer.
    Many of the university's Web designers believe that the Tufts site, which was last updated in 2004, is due for a modernization overhaul.
    "If you browse through enough college and university Web sites, they all start to look the same after a while — and we didn't want Tufts.edu to look like all the rest," Director of Web Communications Bill Denneen said. "We wanted to create a new design that would really capture the uniqueness of Tufts."
    "The changes we are making go far beyond just putting on a new coat of paint," Denneen continued. "The site has a lot going for it — the weekly homepage feature is distinctive and very popular — but it also lacks a few things."
    The Department of Web Communications, part of University Relations, will execute the site renovation along with other members of the University Relations staff, according to Denneen.
    In an effort to better understand what people would like changed, the Web designers have sought feedback from members of the Tufts community.
    "We talked to dozens and dozens of people, some in phone interviews, some in focus groups and some in one-on-one usability tests to learn [what] they think about the site," Denneen said.
    The new site will utilize XHTML and CSS, two languages involved with Web development, in order to bring the site up to speed with other sites, Denneen said.
    Another change includes an expanded menu bar, according to Tufts Community Union (TCU) Vice President Scott Silverman, who saw the changes at a Feb. 22 Senate meeting.
    At the meeting, TCU senators got a sneak peak of the new Web site. Senator Brandon Rattiner was excited about the design.
     "I think the Web site is very clean and sharp and it has very powerful imagery," Rattiner, a junior and co-chair of the Senate's Education Committee, said. "The new site is modern, and it shows we have a lot of potential for growth."
    Silverman agreed. "I am excited to see the direction the site will go," he said. "I was very impressed with the presentation from Web Communications. It took a lot of thought and design."
    But Senator Danielle Cotter, a freshman, said that although she was pleased with the new site's increased accessibility, she was disappointed with the absence of a photograph of Jumbo and the lack of a brown-and-blue color scheme. The presenters told the TCU Senate that the new site would incorporate an edgy color scheme and format, she said.
    "I don't know if trying to turn Tufts into an edgy cool school is something we want to do," Cotter said. "We have a bunch of nutty traditions, like Naked Quad Run. I know we are one of the top universities, but we are a more personal school and I thought we didn't want to turn away from that."