A new web design is attracting every target group

– The purpose of the new design was to increase the similarity of the school’s print media and digital publications – to achieve a cohesive aesthetic expression for all KTH's channels. In terms of web presence, this entailed “cleaning up” graphic elements and colors, as well as a firmer framework.

In the spring of 2018, KTH's former communications agency, Klirr, produced sketches for the new web design. The new design language is cleaner and neutral. This is advantageous because KTH interacts with a wide range of target groups, says Robert Lawesson, Project Manager for the web design project and Administrative Director of the Polopoly web system.

– The system development group in the IT Department then constructed new templates for web publication, based on Klirr’s design sketches. The work continued throughout the fall of 2018.

Robert Lawesson explains that all technical development was performed internally at KTH's IT Department – which will continue to handle that side of things in the future, when the new design will be applied in other system applications.

Next in line for design improvements are systems such as the profile pages, the social platform, KTH-places, the program comparison service, KTH-forms and the Course and Program Directory. The new design will be continuously implemented in these systems.

A more accessible website – and a faster one

– We’ve also worked hard to adapt the website to the new accessibility requirements that took effect in September 2018. For example, the site now features much better contrast between the text and the background colors. We weren’t good about that in the past. It’s easier to find the clickable elements now, too.

Robert Lawesson adds that the development team has also thoroughly cleaned up the code. This means that it’s now easier for persons with functional variations to make use of the web content with the help of assistive technology, such as a screen narrator.

He says that the improvement of the code also means that the web pages load faster than they did in the past.

A website for all screen widths

KTH's website now looks better on different types of screens, especially various mobile devices. Robert Lawesson explains that this is important because about 1/3 of traffic takes place via mobile today.

Finally, the KTH intranet has received its own graphic element - a gray header that distinguishes the intranet from the rest of the website's design language.

– We realized that people often confused the intranet with kth.se. Now we hope to reduce the risk of confusion.