Mobile First

We will be building ND.edu in what is known as “mobile first.” That means that the initial styles and layout are going to be formatted for small screens first; then we’ll be adding functionality and layout for larger devices (tablets, laptops, etc.) as we progressively add more and more features. We do this to provide our mobile users the best experience possible while assuring full access to all content.

What this means to you, the reader, is that if you’re checking out the beta site fairly early in the process and it looks odd to you, you will need to try scaling down the width of your browser. Then look at the content as a small-screen device will render it. Well, that or just look at the site on your mobile phone.

As we get closer to launch, you will start seeing what you would consider a “normal looking site” start to take shape.

A Fresh Coat of Paint

As part of our ongoing efforts to provide the best possible Notre Dame Web experience, we updated ND.edu with new styles and an interactive feature area on February 7. Over the past six months, we’ve used the feature area to spotlight a series of five “In Depth” stories for approximately a month each. While we’ve found success in this approach, we decided to modify the homepage to allow our visitors easy access to these stories and, at the same time, allow us to feature what we feel is exceptional content that exists outside of the main ND.edu site.

ND.edu side-by-side previewWe hope you enjoy the change. Don’t get too attached, though.

We’re already well into a full redesign of the site that will take place over the next several months. If you want to be an active viewer of the changes as they happen, keep an eye on beta.nd.edu.