AZ Dept. of Education Launches New Website

[Jose Borrajero]

Arizona Department of Education

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal

 

For Immediate Release

September 28, 2011

CONTACT: Ryan Ducharme

602-542-5072

[e-mail]

 

 Arizona Department of Education Launches New Website

New Site Will Better Serve the Needs of Students, Parents, Educators and the Public

 

 

Phoenix, AZ, September 28, 2011– The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) recently announced the launch of its newly redesigned website to the public.  With a new layout, navigation, design and functionality, the website will provide education stakeholders with more relevant, accessible, and timely content.

“Upon taking office, I asked my staff at the Department to create a website that better served the needs of Arizona’s students, parents, teachers, school administrators and the public,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal.  “After nine months of development, I am proud to announce the launch of the new ADE website.”

ADE’s website is its primary medium for communicating and sharing important information and resources with its stakeholders. Last year, over 400,000 unique visitors visited the Arizona Department of Education website. The new website features 52 division “mini” homepages, nearly 2,000 web pages and over 12,000 web links, including 5,000 linked documents available for download.

Specifically, the new website accomplishes the following (and much more):

1.       Increases ADE’s ability to effectively communicate with students, parents, teachers and the public with a completely redesigned website template, optimized navigation and a consistent look-and-feel

2.       Utilizes Google Custom Search with predictive fill text functionality to more accurately hone in on search requests

3.       Changes the website from a static website into a dynamic 52-department multi-site, allowing better flexibility by program area to post information tailored in a more timely, customer-oriented fashion

4.       Provides multiple ways for visitors to reach most program and content areas

5.       Uses new website tools, like webinar and upcoming events widgets, to provide increased functionality and a better interactive user experience

6.       Establishes a rebranded theme, replete with new graphics and pictures, which celebrate the great diversity of our student population and public education system stakeholders.

7.       Gives unique user types—students, parents, administrators, teachers and the general public—an ever-evolving landing page with resources specific to their needs.

8.       Introduces ADE’s new logo to the general public

9.       Includes new customer service-oriented sections: ADE Staff Directory, Contact Us, Feedback and FAQs

10.   Allows users to increase or decrease text size with the font +/font function, a particularly beneficial feature for the visually impaired

 

“The new ADE website is just one example of the Department’s commitment to providing ‘knock your socks off’ service and support to Arizona’s education community in the weeks, months and years ahead,” said Superintendent Huppenthal.