Currently responsive design has launched for the www.wm.edu website. Our grad school sites will also become responsive in the coming months. We’ll keep you posted.
One of our favorite things about the new responsive design is that editors still manage their content in the same way. (Anyone else thrilled about not having to learn a new process?) There are, however, a few things we recommend you review on your sites to optimize for both your mobile and desktop users:
- A few font and spacing settings were adjusted to improve the user experience (increased line height and larger Headings 5 and 6, are two examples). You may need to remove extra line breaks or over-sized headings that you were using previously that are no longer necessary. Remember, only Headings 5 and 6 should be used, never Headings 1-4.
- Gateway sections now lineup on the page horizontally. You may find this leaves excess “white space” on the page that can be minimized by re-ordering the sections.
- Have you caught yourself using phrases like, “use the menu to the left,” or “the Related Links on the right?” While the Writing & Style Guide discourages the use of relational directions in general, using this type of language will now be very confusing to your mobile users (site menus and other elements shift locations on different devices and browser widths).
Happy editing!
~ Jesse