About This Website
Project Overview
The former International Programs website was spread out over with multiple URLs on two different servers and provided content for International Programs' 21 departments, programs, and centers. Each section of the website had different graphic designs and navigation structures.
In February of 2007, the decision was made to update the design and architecture of the current International Programs website. The website's structure, information organization, and navigation system were given a complete overhaul and the graphics were redesigned from scratch. Both the website structure and the graphics were designed to allow for both consistency and uniqueness throughout the site.
The final result was a 2700+ page website that was easy to maintain but still allowed for customization by each department within International Programs.
Standards Compliant
The International Programs website is written entirely in XHTML, CSS and JavaScript code. At the time of publication, every page within the International Programs website validated and was W3C standards compliant.
In general standards compliance results in websites that are:
- easier to manage, maintain and re-design
- compatible with new browsing technologies
- accessible by more people
- better ranking in search engines
- compatible with new browsing technologies
Faster, Lighter Pages
By separating content from design elements using XHTML and CSS, the overall size of webpages were dramatically reduced. This results in faster pages that are cheaper to host.
- On average, pages were reduced in size by about 30%
- Certain pages were reduced in size by over 85%
New Look
The International Programs website was given a complete visual overhaul. Below is a photo album with images of the old and new designs.
Before and After Slideshow
View all of the before and after screenshots.
Widgets
Google Search
A search box utilizing The University of Iowa's Google search is always available on the top right corner of the International Programs website. International Studies, Study Abroad, and the Office of International Students and Scholars have custom search functionality for their sites.
Lightbox
Lightbox is a simple, unobtrusive script used to overlay images on the current page and can be used to create really neat photo albums.
Link Icons
All document and external links within the website are analyzed using conditional CSS. Icons for external links 
, email addresses 
, pdf documents 
, word documents 
are then displayed automatically depending on the link type. This further assists accessibility by informing all users the nature of each hyperlink.
The Designers
Web Developer / Project Lead
Sam Schrup is a web developer for Inertia Web Studio in Iowa City.
Graphic Designer
Serina Brekke graduated from University of Iowa with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design in 2007. She is currently teaching graphic design at the Peck School of the Arts in Milwaukee, WI.
Database Developer
Canan Ezme Tapia is a database developer for the University of Iowa's International Programs.