FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions - LCPS.org 2019 Redesign

  • Overview

    Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) leadership has recognized the need to redesign LCPS' Blackboard Content Management System (CMS) to accomplish several objectives.  Among these objectives are to:

    • Implement a more modern design
    • Enable updated typography, layout, search and navigation to work better on mobile and smaller devices (over 50% of our site visitors are using mobile devices)
    • Establish standards and models for greater usability with a consistent and user friendly interface
    • Improve accessibility to everyone, including those with disabilities, to make sites compliant with ADA and Web Content  Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
    • Continually improve websites based on audience/community feedback

     

    As part of our project and ongoing communications plan, we have created several WorkPlace groups to enable better communications regarding the website.  Two Workplace groups in particular are:

    1. Accessibility - open group for all LCPS staff to discuss tips and best practices to make all web content accessible to everyone.  This includes content files (PDF, doc, xls, other) that may be linked from Blackboard or an LCPS Google site or Google Shared Drive.
    2. Blackboard Content Editors - open group (for Blackboard content editors and owners) for sharing concepts, standards, ideas and best practices for using the Blackboard CMS as a communications tool for LCPS.

     

     Click on the Questions listed below to see the Answers.
Expand All

  • When will new 2019 design changes be public ?

    Answer:

    The LCPS district and department sites will go live August 1, 2019.

    School subsites will go live as they are ready between August 1st and December 31st, 2019. 

  • How will district department sites be affected ?

    Answer:

    Existing Blackboard apps and their content should for the most part work well in the new LCPS template.  Exceptions will be the Home pages and some multi-media or image rotator apps.  New standards will be published for image sizes for certain apps, and those images will need to be updated or replaced.
     
    Additionally, LCPS is implementing new standards for brevity, organization and accessibility, so some content may need to be organized with more headings, or re-written in a more condensed style for clarity, brevity and accessibility. 
     
    Note that the new LCPS template design will use the full width of the screen, so some content will spread across a wider area on full sized monitors.  On mobile devices, content will stack and require more scrolling to view the content. It's a good idea to check your content on full monitors as well as smaller devices.

  • How will school subsites be affected ?

    Answer:

    The district site content will go public August 1st, and school sites will be expected to follow between then and the end of the calendar year (12/31/2019).
     
    For most schools, the main change will be to the Home page and overall navigation.  Most of the non-Home pages should work as they are with existing content in Blackboard apps displayed inside the new template layout. 
     
    New standards to be published soon will establish expectations for layout and location of certain information on the Home pages. On other pages, existing content can be adjusted over time to meet standards for brevity and accessibility defined in the LCPS Style Guide.

  • Will education and training material be available ?

    Answer:

     Yes.  In addition to the LCPS Style Guide, a variety of new web-based training and how-to materials will be published and shared through the Blackboard Content Editors (BCE) WorkPlace group, email and other means.

     
    The Enterprise Solutions training team is planning for ongoing training of Blackboard content editors.  Schedules are not yet defined, but will be published on the BCE Workplace group and in the MyLearningPlan (FrontLine) site. 

     

  • Can I sneak a peek of the new design ?

    Answer:

     Yes.  We have the final mock-up of the design, but it is only images in a series of web pages, it is NOT a working site.  When you click the page, it simply goes to the next page.  There are 13 pages/views in the loop which show or demonstrate various aspects of the new site design.  To see the entire page, you'll need a 24 inch monitor with the browser window fully maximized.  Anything smaller will require horizontal scrolling.
     
    District Site Mockup - all district pages will use the same global footer and top channel menu.
     
    School Site Mockup - shows school colors, school logo.  Schools will obviously need some large, full size images or video for their home pages.  Note that global footers on school sites will display the Principal's name and school address.

Blackboard Content Management System for LCPS
Last Modified on May 13, 2019