School Website Features: Banner Alerts and Dark Site Feature
Websites are one of the most powerful tools that a school district has at its disposal. From providing up-to-the-minute information and district-wide scheduling to helping parents and children plan for their school year, school websites are essential for keeping education on track and excellent.
There are many different features that administrators can use to control the flow of information. This especially comes in handy in cases of emergency when urgent information is a must.
More than ever before, school districts need to control the flow of information so that parents and children can access important information as easily as possible.
This post will go over two of the most powerful tools school districts have for relaying information to parents and children, banner alerts and the dark site feature.
Banner Alerts
You can think of alert banners as spotlights for important messages.
When you add a banner alert, a message appears at the top of every webpage on your website.
For messages that you might need to use multiple times, Legend Web Works allows you to create easily implemented templates.
Here are a few examples:
- 1-hour delays
- 2-hour delays
- School closed
- No AM kindergarten
- Early release
- Transportation alerts
- Beginning of the new school year alerts
- End of school year alerts
If you create a template in advance, you can update your site more quickly and it will save you on work the day of the alert.
In addition, you can set start and end dates for messages with longer timelines.
You can also schedule two alerts at the same time. They will stack on top of each other so your website visitors can see both messages.
Dark Site Feature
The dark site feature is an excellent tool to help streamline emergency information. If used properly, it is one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal.
This feature is to be used for emergencies only, as it blocks out the rest of your school’s site and redirects visitors to the homepage.
A textual pop-up blocks all content on the homepage so visitors can only see the emergency message.
Again, the dark site feature is to be used in case of emergency only. Here are some of the most common uses:
- Armed Intruder
- Active Shooter
- Evacuations
- Fire
- Explosion
- Flooding
- Gas Leak
In addition to creating alerts, the dark site feature can also give visitors live, time-stamped updates.
For example, in the event of an unknown intruder, timestamps might look something like this:
- “School evacuated” 1:05 PM
- “Police arrived” 1:10 PM
- “Students back in class” 1:25 PM
The dark site feature blacks out the rest of your school's websites so that visitors can get necessary updates easily and without having to search for them.
The dark site feature can also include images in case of flooding or fire. It can also display a map of the school to show where the problem area is.
A Better Site Makes a Safer School
Your website is one of the most powerful tools your school district has at its disposal.
You can provide your visitors with instant updates and easily grant them access to the information they are looking for.
Alert banners and the dark site feature are the two best ways to communicate key information with visitors without forcing them to search through your site.
At Legend Web Works, we understand the importance of relaying important information to your site visitors without any extra hassle.
We build your site to work for you. That is why so many school districts throughout Ohio have their school websites built by Legend Web Works.
Don’t miss out! Contact Legend Web Works to see how we can build a better site for your schools.
