Huntley schools new website user friendly

Huntley Community School District 158 is sporting a new look with a revamped website that's easier to navigate and more user friendly - a makeover that cost only $114.

"It's got a clean, modern look," said Dan Armstrong, district director of communications and public engagement. "It's branded with our new identity and our new name. The navigation is greatly improved."

It took about a year to reorganize the site, which now includes a custom search engine powered by Google to find content within and on third-party sites used by teachers and departments.

Much of the improvement involves streamlining the information into manageable tabs.

"The site uses responsive design," which makes it mobile-friendly, Armstrong said. "We've added a translator powered by Google, and accessibility features for visually impaired people."

Content now can be translated into five other languages spoken by some of the families in the district - Filipino, Polish, Spanish, Urdu and Vietnamese.

Yet, the coolest features are a centralized calendar of events and an interactive lunch menu, Armstrong said.

The calendar aggregates event information from all nine school buildings that is searchable by school and category, such as athletics and arts. It also incorporates holidays and school board news.

"You can get from thousands of events just down to the ones that are relevant to your family very quickly," Armstrong said. "You can export all of those events right to your calendar."

The centralized calendar also feeds relevant events to each school's calendar, eliminating mistakes caused by making multiple entries. "That's a major efficiency," Armstrong said.

The calendar plug-in is what cost the district $114.

The interactive lunch menu allows parents the ability to click on individual food items, see the ingredients, and get the full nutritional value of the meal, as well as allergen information.

Previously, parents had to visit the food service office to look up the information in a binder.

"It's appreciated by parents who are concerned about what their kids are going to be actually eating at school," Armstrong said. "Parents can get on their phone and scroll down the whole menu and see what it is."