In 2019, BYU will launch a free service called BYU Sites to help employees who manage a website for their department.
BYU Sites will combine a web hosting service with a BYU-branded theme and core set of features that will meet the needs of most public-facing websites.
“We want this service to be incredibly easy to use – so people can spend less time with the nuts and bolts of their site and more time with the content and strategy,” said Nate Walton, the newly hired BYU Sites manager.
Walton earned a bachelor’s degree from BYU and an MFA in graphic design from Indiana University. He’s spent his career making and improving websites so they’re fast, reliable, user-friendly and good-looking. He’s also been deeply involved in executing brand standards on the web at BYU and at LDS Philanthropies.
John Lepinski, IT Communications Manager, notes the five major reasons behind BYU Sites:
- Increase overall efficiency of website production
- Create a consistent user experience for visitors across the BYU domain
- Reduce cybersecurity risks
- Make BYU websites accessible to people with disabilities
- Align BYU websites with the university’s brand standards
BYU Sites is a partnership between University Communications and OIT, which is generously funding the program. Publications & Graphics, Information Security and members of the Web Advisory Board also contribute on the BYU Sites steering committee.
"We've done a lot of research on our campus needs and consulted with other universities who have been successful with this," said Joe Hadfield, University Communication's director of online communications. "I'm grateful for the head start this gave us and the extra momentum we get with Nate's hiring."
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