Four UA sites refreshed inside the central comms framework.

Any digital work at a major public university lives inside a framework. UA’s central communications office maintains an official WordPress platform that every affiliated site is expected to use — for brand consistency, accessibility, and the kind of long-term maintainability a Big Twelve institution needs across hundreds of programs.

Four sites came to us at the same time, each with their own audience and their own operational rhythm. The work wasn’t to rebuild the framework. It was to make four very different sites feel current inside it — without breaking the constraints that exist for good reason.

Community Affairs

UA’s public-facing outreach division — the bridge between the university and the surrounding Tuscaloosa community.

College of Education

One of UA’s largest academic colleges, with a multi-departmental information architecture and a deep prospective-student audience.

UA/UWA Regional Inservice Center

A joint partnership between UA and the University of West Alabama, serving K–12 teacher professional development across the region. Mixed audience, program-heavy content.

Crossing Point

A focused service program with its own brand voice inside the broader UA system — needing room to feel distinct while still reading as official.

The framework existed for good reasons. The brand guidelines existed for good reasons. Working within them — rather than around them — was the entire point.

Each site got new structural patterns, accessibility-first components, and visual treatments that read as 2026 rather than 2014 — all while staying inside the guardrails central comms expects to maintain across the broader UA system. WCAG 2.1 AA throughout, because public-university accessibility is not a stretch goal.

Content moved across cleanly — every page, every asset, every redirect. Layout consistency held through the transition. Editors landed on the new platform able to do their day-to-day work without a learning curve, which is the part of a migration that decides whether a redesign actually compounds.