Mobile devices like smartphones and tablets make life so much easier! For instance, on the way to the Mensa you can quickly check what’s on today’s menu, search for information on study programs or find out what’s new at the University. Keeping pace with the mobile generation, we have now optimized the format of the University’s central web portal, adapting it to facilitate use with mobile devices.
“Today, it is commonplace to use mobile devices for accessing the internet, and currently about 25% percent of all visitors to our homepage do so via mobile terminals“, says the University’s Director of Finances and Administration, Dr. Martin Mehrtens. Especially people living in Asia and Africa tend to use modern smartphones instead of desktop computers. “It was therefore high time for us to adapt our internet presence to a more mobile-friendly format.”
Cross-platform communication and search engine optimization
There’s no real change for desktop users. In case you reduce the size of the browser window, though, you will notice a format switch and land on the mobile display. “The new format is a great improvement to our external communication“, says Mirja Uschkureit, content manager of the University’s homepage. “For example, when you find an interesting link on Facebook, Twitter or any other online source you no longer have to change the device you’re using in order to find a user-friendly display. These days we’ve become used to doing everything on a single device.”
Using mobiles for accessing websites is not just a trend: It’s an irreversible development that all website providers need to address. And now it’s also relevant for search engine optimization: Google, for instance, now rewards responsive websites by giving them a higher ranking.
Little change for page editors
Although a lot will change for users of the University website, things will remain largely the same for the various page editors. “We planned the change so that the editors using our Typo3 content management system would be able to carry on as usual”, explains Birte Weishaupt, the University’s Typo3 administrator.
If you would like to have more information on this topic, please contact:
University of Bremen
Content Management
Mirja Uschkureit
Phone: +49 421 218-60151
e-mail: mirja.uschkureitprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
