After a string of difficulties, the Carleton University Students’ Association’s (CUSA) new website went online last month.
The new website is still under construction, but CUSA’s brand co-ordinator, Dwaine Taylor, said it’s a much needed improvement from the previous website.
Although the majority of the content is the same, the new website now provides clearer access to CUSA services, he said. It is more graphic heavy and focuses more on visuals rather than text.
“We have also added features like the Instagram feed and are currently working with our web designer on more interactive features to come,” Taylor said in an email.
Taylor said there were some difficulties in getting the site up while it was transferred to a new server and web host. Some students were still getting redirected to the old website even though the new one was online, but those issues are now resolved.
In terms of the changes, Taylor said the decisions were made based on input from various groups including CUSA businesses, service centres, and students in order to create a more functional website for students.
Taylor said he was not allocated a budget for the project and did not provide answers on where the funding for the project came from, nor how much it was.
CUSA president Folarin Odunayo also did not provide exact numbers about the cost of the website.
“I’m not sure at this point but it wouldn’t have cost anything huge,” he said.
He added the cost would fall under the legal and professional services portion of the CUSA budget, which was $40,000 in the 2014-15 budget.
Odunayo said the new website was a long time coming.
“I’m a little disappointed with how long it took,” he said.
Both Taylor and Odunayo said the amount of content on the website is why it took so long to launch.
Taylor said the project’s web designer, domain, and hosting services were all decided before he became involved. When he joined the project last September, he amalgamated all of CUSA’s information and content, and created a site map. This went to the web designer who then put the website together. All together, Taylor said the project took four months, though CUSA is still adding to the website.
Taylor said he hopes students find the website easier to navigate and they provide CUSA with feedback on how the website can improve.
“I would like students to know the site is not yet done. Some of its best features are still in development,” he said. “It was important that we had a site that made our essential services like table bookings accessible, while we continue to work on improving the site as a whole.”
