A new section launched on Dalhousie’s website last week promises to make it easier for students to access the university’s robust collection of services and supports.
Life at Dal, formerly known as Campus Life, connects users to information on campus life, student support, and the services that shape the Dal experience in a more streamlined, user-friendly way. It improves navigation while significantly reducing duplication and outdated pages.
A more integrated and organized design driven by user needs rather than internal university structures means students can now more easily understand what Dal offers beyond the classroom and how to access supports when they need them.
"It's not the same section redesigned. It's a whole new hub based on intuitive user behaviour,” says Erica Zwicker, director of communications with Student Affairs.
Current students will benefit from a more modern, mobile-responsive interface where they can find answers to common questions about student life grouped logically by theme and topic rather than operational units.
Meanwhile, future students will be able to more easily browse through enhanced content highlighting Dalhousie’s options for housing, dining, student support, and more.
Quality over quantity
The Life at Dal project was a collaborative effort involving site owners and content authors from Student Affairs and Housing & Campus Connections, working closely with the Dal.ca Web Services team. The latter composed of members of the Student Recruitment and Marketing (SRM) Digital Marketing Platforms team and Information Technology Services’ Web Team.
Together, the teams reduced the total number of pages in the section by 80 per cent and minimized the use of documents and downloadable content, resulting in more concise content and greater web accessibility.
Life at Dal also provides clear pathways for students to access useful myDal intranet sites such as Student Affairs (login required) and the brand new Residence Information Portal (login required). These sites offer more detailed, internally relevant information about specific aspects of the student experience for current students, while Life at Dal hosts materials that are more broadly relevant to both current and prospective students.
The launch of Life at Dal also created an opportunity to better support the student journey by consolidating academic content previously found under Campus Life — such as degree planning, grades, and student records — within the Study section of the website, which has a more academic focus.
“These changes were made to better support the journey for prospective and current students by bringing degree planning and degree management resources together in one place,” says Trudi Smith, web content specialist at Dal.
As with other recent dal.ca launches, Life at Dal reflects a shared commitment to improving clarity, accessibility, and user experience for everyone who relies on Dal’s website.