2014-12-18 Website Revamp Meeting Notes

Progress So Far

• Approach the final stage with the vendor to wrap up the design phase
• Start pivoting with the existing ICANN web/IT teams, one of which focuses on the development of At-Large website

Look & Feel

• The group liked the ALAC purple as the primary color and the light ICANN blue as the secondary color
• Structure is clean and clear
• White fonts on a lighter shade may be difficult to read by some people
• The group liked the band structure & their categorization and suggest to use more actual At-Large content to fill the bands

Logo

• The group prefered to have the At-Large logo but recognizes that it adds width to the navigation bar and the text associated with the logo may be illegible
• Different ideas for fitting the logo within the space: 
  • Move the text in the At-Large logo to the right side to shorten its height
    
  • Truncate the top language bar so that it allows the At-Large logo to take up the widths of both the language bar and the navigation bar
  • Move the logo to the left of the Hero Text “We are the At-Large Community”

Hero Band

• The group liked the hero text banner on top of the picture
• Different ideas for the placement of the search bar:
  • Within the picture, close to the bottom right edge
  • Inside the “Get Started” purple box
• Need to make the wording inside the search bar more precisely and change it into something like “Search within the At-Large Site”
• The group had no problem with repetition of content inside the purple “Get Started” box, but didn’t discuss what links should be featured inside the box

Policy Advice Development Band

• The group seems to have a general consensus on using a graphic to showcase the number of Statements based on topics within certain period. Web Staff have the capability to make the graphic dynamic, populating & updating it with actual data and linking the bars to filtered search results within the Policy Advice Statement page
• The group didn’t reach consensus on which graphic should be used:
  • The bar graph may take up too much white space and the taxonomy text may be illegible.
  • The group didn’t examine the pie chart in detail or discuss how it can be placed inside the band

Regional Activities & Outreach Band

• The group agreed to feature RALO activities and even relevant ALS activities within this band
• The group didn’t discuss alternative views for the map (other than the view of the ALS representation)

Capacity Building Band

• The group suggested to change the phrase “Capacity Building” into something more understandable and exciting; suggestions include:
  • Learn About At-Large & ICANN
  • Training
  • Want to Learn More?
  • Free Resources to Learn More
• Suggestions for additional featured links inside the band:
  • Leadership Training Program
  • ICANN Academy
  • Onboarding for ALSes (or Welcome Aboard)

Calendar

• The term “Upcoming Event” is misleading and shall be replaced by “Calendar” or “Upcoming Calls”
• The group didn't reached consensus on where to place the calendar. Ideas include:
  • Where it is now
  • Become its own band
  • An icon on the top portion of the homepage (e.g. Get Started box)
• Group members pointed out that there’s no date on the calendar and almost every single work day will be purple (as At-Large has call almost every work day); Ariel suggested to reference the design of Google Calendar app to gather ideas to improve the look and utility of the calendar

Other General Comment on the Homepage Mockup

• Group members had different views on how to cater to newcomers:
  • Alan and Dev: Have a paragraph about “Who We Are” directly placed under the Hero Band.
  • Laura: The “About” section in the navigation bar may suffice
  • Heidi: Make the “Get Started” box into its own band and place it directly under the Hero Band; place the social media icons and calendar within it
  • Dev: Add one/two liners under each band header to explain the terms “Policy Advice,” “Regional Activities & Outreach,” and “Capacity Buiding;” Olivier noted that added text may crowd the page
• In the footer, the social Media channel text shall be replaced by icons; consider move the icons to the top right corner on the homepage for better visibility
• Accessibility:
  • At-Large website must be accessible, as we are the main forces behind the push for improving web accessibility
  • Web product team is assessing the accessibility for all ICANN related websites to generate guidelines and best practices. W3C (WCAG) level AA is the goal.
• Take consideration of the GNSO new landing page which aims to organize information in a more meaningful and consumable manner
• Dev suggested to reference the vertical timeline function for building a more dynamic page; this page instructs the way to do it: http://codyhouse.co/gem/vertical-timeline/

Sample Writing for WHOIS Policy Topic Page

• The group recognizes the need to speak directly to the audience (i.e. newcomers for policy topic page) in an approachable, helpful manner, explaining the issues clearly and concisely, avoiding jargons
• The group prefers the 2^nd person perspective in writing 
• The group suggested different ideas for explaining jargons & technical terminologies:
  
  • Hyperlink the terms to existing ICANN pages with further explanations
  • A pop-up window appears with detailed explanation of a technical term when you mouse over it
  • Add info graphics, illustrations, short hot-topic interviews of community members, and other multimedia resources to complement written text to help explain complicated technical issues
• Avoid mentioning specific businesses or organizations in writing; this may be perceived as product placement