The new UP website went live on the evening of Thursday 28 February, after nearly 18 months of hard work by a multi-department team. Some of the key players who saw the project through its various phases gathered at Kya Rosa on the Hatfield Campus for a small celebratory lunch on Friday 1 March.

“The website is fresh, vibrant and reflective of the diverse, inclusive and exciting environment that is the University of Pretoria,” said UP Registrar Professor Caroline Nicholson, who oversaw the project. “We owe a big round of applause to the dozens of staff members across the university’s faculties and departments who worked so closely with the Department of University Relations to ensure our website relaunch would be a resounding success.”

Mr Wallace Isaacs, Deputy Director: Student Recruitment and Enrolment, said: “The new look, feel and functionality of the UP web is a major improvement on the previous one. It looks vibrant and fresh. The Department of Enrolment and Student Administration is particularly happy that the go-live was done in such a manner that it coincided with the applications for 2020 opening on 1 March 2019. Well done, DUR!”
The site was designed after analysing three years of user trends and other market research to identify what visitors want most from the site. There was extensive consultation with academic and other support service departments in order to arrange items in a way that makes it easier for an external audience to find what they are looking for. As a result, not everything in the navigation is arranged by how UP is organised internally, but it is rather arranged for the benefit of an external user.

Research revealed that prospective students were the biggest users of the UP website, so information had to be prominently displayed for them on the site. They want a shopping list to evaluate course programmes, course offerings, location, facilities and accreditations – information which the new site makes easier to find. UP’s Virtual Campus project was part of the first phase of the web refresh project, and makes it easy for prospective students to discover, access and explore UP’s beautiful campuses and excellent academic programmes from anywhere in the world.

The new site is more user-friendly, easy to navigate, agile and easily viewable on any device, after following a strong mobile-first approach in its design. The site now has a reduced number of clicks to get to the information each visitor needs.

The modern look and feel is aesthetically appealing to a variety of audiences, with easy-to-use navigation and a prominent search function.
“Excellent website, loving the fresh, new look… easy navigation and access to a wealth of information at your fingertips… congratulations to all involved in the web refresh, as it looks amazing,” was just one of the overwhelmingly positive comments received from UP staff members.

If you haven’t visited the new site yet, please go have a look at www.up.ac.za! We welcome your feedback and comments. Simply click here to fill out the feedback form.