Campus

WCC approves website refresh

Sofia Oganezova

Staff Writer

WCC is moving forward with plans to update its website as part of a digital modernization initiative aimed at improving accessibility, navigation and the overall user experience for students and the community.

College officials presented the website refresh proposal during the WCC Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 27, outlining concerns with the current site and recommending a full redesign to better meet evolving user expectations. The Board of Trustees approved the proposal by a six to one vote at its Feb. 24 meeting.

The total projected timeline for both phases is 18 months. $638,155 is the estimated cost for the full digital modernization initiative.

Trustee Eileen Peck voted against the measure.

“It seems like an enormous amount of money to be sending out of the county,” Peck said.

Board Chairperson Christina Fleming defended the cost, saying the project was “competitively bid” and that “the budget is on par with similar projects.”

“It’s for student accessibility,” Fleming said. “It’s about making life easier for everybody to get the information that you need.”

“The website really needed a refresh to keep up with the change in technology and the expectations people have with their mobile devices,” Fleming said.

According to the presentation, wccnet.edu serves approximately 1.9 million users annually and is often the first point of contact for current and prospective students.

Administrators said the website plays a critical role in enrollment, registration and access to academic resources.

Despite its reach, officials said the current site struggles to meet modern standards, particularly on mobile devices. Data presented to the board showed that key enrollment and registration pages can take between five and 10 seconds to load on mobile. Users are more likely to leave a website if it does not load within one to two seconds.

Bobbi Harbuck, a pre-engineering major at WCC, said he uses the website frequently and feels its limitations most clearly.

“I use the WCC website daily during the school week, mostly to log into the student portal, Canvas and my email,” Harbuck said.

While Harbuck said the website functions as intended, he believes it lacks the feel of a modern platform.

“For what it’s meant to do, it works,” Harbuck said. “It feels more like a collection of links than a modern website, but it does serve its purpose.”

Fleming acknowledged similar concerns, describing the current homepage as “kind of your jumping off portal to go into other areas of the website.”

Mobile access has become an increasing concern for the college. According to the presentation, mobile usage has grown significantly since the current website launched in 2019, with 51% more new users accessing the site on mobile devices. However, 55% of users leave the site after viewing only one page, suggesting issues with navigation and usability.

Harbuck said the website is difficult to use on a phone.

“I mostly use the website on my laptop,” Harbuck said. “When I do try to use it on my phone, it’s uncomfortable. I think the website needs to be more mobile-friendly.”

Fleming said the redesign is intended to address those issues, noting that “a lot of students have frustrations with their interactivity with the website, especially on mobile devices.” She added that students want to access their information “without having to pinch and zoom and scroll everywhere.”

Students and community members echoed similar concerns during surveys and focus groups conducted by the college. Navigation and finding content were identified as the top areas needing improvement, followed by search functionality, website performance and design. Accessibility issues, including font size and color contrast, were also raised.

In addition to usability concerns, Harbuck pointed to frustrations with logging in.

“I don’t like that I have to keep reauthenticating just to get to my email,” Harbuck said. “There should be a more direct way to access it once you’re logged in.”

Student experiences with the website vary. Luke Rogers, a business administration major at WCC, said the website generally works well for his needs.

“It is user-friendly,” Rogers said. “It makes WCC feel like a source of everything.”

Rogers said he has not experienced many issues finding information.

“It’s easy to find what you’re looking for on the website, and I’ve never really had any problems,” Rogers said.

Still, Rogers acknowledged that the website shows its age.

“Maybe a little bit outdated,” Rogers said. “It’s a veteran website.”

Rogers added that while he likes the visual elements, navigation can sometimes be challenging.

“I like the colors, the fonts and the pictures, but sometimes it can be hard to find what you’re looking for, Rogers said.”

College leaders said the current content management system limits WCC’s ability to update content efficiently, personalize user experiences and meet advancing accessibility standards.

Fleming said accessibility was a key priority, noting that “we’ve got a lot of students with different needs,” including those who rely on screen readers. She added that the updated site is expected to include the latest ADA-compliant features.

After being approved, the proposed refresh will move the website to a new platform designed to support faster load times, clearer navigation, improved search tools and better performance across devices.

The proposal outlines a two-phase project. The first phase will focus on a full website refresh, including redesigned navigation, updated visuals, improved search functionality and the migration of approximately 900 pages to a new system. The second phase will introduce enrollment enhancements to help students more easily choose programs, select courses and register.