Why is this happening?

In response to frequent stakeholder inquiries regarding Roxen, OIT conducted research in 2017 on the effectiveness of UAF and Statewide's web presence, and identified trends and common problems that affect the user experience and engagement of visitors to include prospective students.

Research methods included capturing user behavior through heat maps and screen recordings that identify the location and frequency of mouse clicks on a given web page. Additionally, OIT used Google Analytics to understand visitor engagement, identify top content and evaluate site performance, as well as collected feedback over a number of years regarding Roxen. Some of the key findings were:

• UA and UAF websites lack visual and functional consistency
• Web content is not up to date and is not consistent
• Web content is out of compliance with accessibility standards due to lack of accessibility checking tools
• Visitors abandon current websites before reaching their desired destination
• Improvements to design and functionality are needed to increase performance
• Roxen is not widely used with higher ed
• Roxen has a high learning curve and is not intuitive or user friendly

Some of the recommendations as a result of the analysis are:

• Require university-related websites to use branded and specialized templates. As a result, website visitors will be able to navigate more easily and find the information they’re looking for.
• Educate site owners and content creators to provide visually consistent content and why consistency matters to the user experience.
• Provide site owners with data and enable them to do their own user research to optimally organize their web content.
• Provide a user-friendly web content management system which encourages consistency at an enterprise level and allows for simpler and faster updates.

In addition to the research, in May 2017, OIT invited Roxen users to an OU Campus demo and Q&A forum to give feedback on Roxen and migration to OU Campus. In November of 2017, UAF and Statewide selected OU Campus to replace Roxen. An overview of new template designs and OU Campus functionality were shared with key stakeholders in spring 2018 for feedback.

When will my site be migrated?

Roxen websites will be automatically migrated to OU Campus early this summer. Roxen website owners will be contacted by OIT on a site-by-site basis to review the OU Campus version of their website and address any critical changes prior to the new OU Campus version being launched. Your Roxen website will remain live until you approve the OU Campus version to go live, however, any changes made to the Roxen website during the review period will need to be reconciled on the OU Campus system separately. If you would like to have your website migrated sooner, contact the OIT support center.

What if I’m off contract when my website is migrated?

The Roxen websites will remain live until the site owner validates the OU Campus version and approves it to go live. The deadline for this will extend into the fall semester to ensure those who go off-contract have the opportunity to complete this validation.

What do Roxen users need to do once their website is migrated to OU Campus?

OIT expects that most of the Roxen content will be the same in OU Campus, however, there will be some content that will need to be modified or cleaned up in the new system, depending on the complexity and uniqueness of the site. OIT and University Relations will be available to assist site owners with this cleanup.

Will there be OU Campus training?

OIT is developing a custom training that will be available this summer. In addition, OU Campus offers a library of training videos, monthly training webinars, an online learning management system, extensive documentation for APIs and an annual user training conference, as well as a community network and feedback forum and for support.

Will I be allowed to customize my website’s design?

Users are strongly encouraged to use the branded templates. Research shows that consistent visual design is best practice because it leads users to feel familiar and comfortable with a website, making it user-friendly and helps them get to their desired destination. It is expected from a modern university and is important to the prospective student experience. Lack of website consistency makes users relearn how to navigate web pages from department to department, creates confusion and is time-intensive. Users who abandon the website search in frustration often do not return.

Why is using this platform a good idea?

Having a well organized and branded website has many advantages.

• Transitioning to OU Campus and using the new templates will present UA and UAF websites as well organized and branded as is expected from a modern university.
• As the number one marketing and recruitment tool for students, faculty and staff, the university’s new templates and overall design will make it easier for users to find what they are looking for.
• Creation of a website on OU Campus through OIT is free. Units that maintain content management systems outside of OIT's central control face additional costs for hosting, domain names, administration, security, inclusion in UA's Google Search Appliance, and risk a lack of support during times of staff transition.
• OU Campus’ allows users to easily edit content on the page. Ease of editing can help keep UA and UAF’s web presences up-to-date.
• New features make it easier for anyone to present content in advanced layouts without hand-coding
• The new OU Campus templates meet required ADA compliance standards, as well as contain all disclaimers required by federal law. Units that host sites outside OU Campus will be responsible for meeting all compliance and ADA standards on their own.

Where do I go for more information?

If you have questions, or would like to to know more about migrating an existing UAF website to this new platform, please contact the OIT Service Desk via http://alaska.edu/oit/get-help/ or email helpdesk@alaska.edu.