In the higher education industry, Drupal is the favourite content management system (CMS), with the 80 out of 100 top World universities using it, in which 95% of them are top US universities.

Why? Drupal is overcoming the unique digital challenges faced by higher education institutions. This includes everything from managing multiple sites and complex content, to meeting the needs of diverse stakeholders and audiences.

Moreover, Drupal’s continuous innovation helps to digital transformation in the higher education industry, allowing institutions to maintain competitive, leverage opportunities, and to keep up with the student’s expectations.

On the following article you will learn about the key benefits of Drupal for universities, colleges, and other academic institutions, including the major and relevant features of the latest version of Drupal -Drupal 10.

Building more accessible experiences from application to graduation

As Malala Yousafzai, activist and Nobel Prize laureate, once said; “Education is education, and it’s the right of every human being.” And it’s one of the driving forces for most of the higher education institutions, across the world. Generally, students of different accommodation needs, native languages, and access to technology come to schools. And the U.S schools participates in federal financial aid programs are ready to take reasonable measures to ensure that their web content is accessible. The internationally recognised Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) offers a comprehensive standard for accessibility, with different levels to be considered:

• Perceivable: Can everyone “see” this?
• Provide captions and other alternatives for multimedia.
• Provide text alternatives for non-text content.
• Operable: Can everyone operate this?
• Make all functionality available from a keyboard.
• Help users navigate and find content.
• Understandable: Can everyone understand this?
• Make text readable and understandable.
• Help users avoid and correct mistakes.
• Robust: Can all devices use this?
• Maximize compatibility with current and future user tools.
• Write good code.

Many Activist groups has already filed lawsuits against most of the top higher education institutions like Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and New York University, for failing to meet these standards. In many of these cases the result was costly, which include monetary fines, legal fees, and damage to brand reputation.

In order to ensure that your projects are accessible, consider these tips in the areas of content, design, and development;

1. Content

The content of your website should be clear in its message, and concise in language. At the same time, it should be short and explanatory so a screen reader can speak it back to the users who will understand exactly what the content is all about. Whereas, Images should be labelled with alt texts and titles. Although “IMG001.JEPG” may be easier for the tongue, but it doesn’t relay much relevant information about the particular image on the screen, so ensure that your CMS has fields for the texts for authors, so that they don’t need to rely on embedding text on images, and make sure to include meta tags to the pages. Then provide context and name all the links based on the content they link to. If possible, avoid using “Click Here” links.

2. Design

In your website make sure to maintain sufficient colour contrast between foreground (text or graphics) and the background, so that the low-vision and colour-blind users can identify the content easily. Enabling the low-vision users and users those who uses screen magnification to display a small portion of the screen to consistently navigate a website is important, as they often use visual cues and page boundaries to quickly locate repeated content. So don’t change your website navigation and menus from page to page. Be sure that the visual consistency translates to different screen sizes and devices. Clear layout and organisation of the content is the key for providing a consistent experience.

3. Development

In the development of your website make sure review the check-list for WCAG 2.1 and nothing is missed. Try to avoid unnecessary repetition, extra or useless words, and dynamic URL strings in your URL structure; URL s should help describe the page they point to. Use schematic mark-up in the content and make sure that these mark-ups are used appropriately; for an example, using headings in the wrong hierarchy is a common mistake. And make sure that your CMS requires admin access to add alt text when an image is been uploaded. And also check for any editorial work flows that create structure and enforce compliance. Also provide the help text to authors to create consistency when they’re entering content.

Drupal is designed to help institutions with limited budgets and faculty resources manage website accessibility standards. It supports screen readers, allows for compliance with font styles and colors, and enables content editors to add alt text and descriptive tags to images, making it easier for them to navigate and navigate their websites.

4. Picking your dream school with better personalization

College is often regarded as the best four years of life, offering opportunities for self-growth, friendship, and potential. However, as tuitions rise and schools focus on culture, universities must strive to differentiate themselves and connect with prospective students. This is why it is crucial for universities to provide exceptional personalized experiences, ensuring students have a memorable experience that they will cherish for years to come.

5. Mastering multi-site management

The higher education industry requires a multi-site solution due to the overwhelming number of websites managed by IT professionals. An average institution has around 2,000 websites, with the largest having over 50,000. This is due to the number of departments and groups within a single institution, each with a different audience, maintenance requirements, and business goals. IT professionals have worked with thousands of higher education institution websites, analysing a cross-section of public, private, and large and small schools.

Large school sites, such as the main.edu "flagship" site, are the most important, followed by faculty, research, HR, and foundation sites. These sites require significant time and attention, while others, like those for alumni reunions, are less important but still need maintenance. Centralizing the management, governance, and deployment of all school sites is crucial for achieving digital excellence and controlling sprawl. Without a central mechanism to manage website expenses, schools struggle to drive a coherent and high-impact digital strategy.

The increasing number of sites in schools increases the cost and complexity of managing and supporting them. This issue will worsen as new functionalities, integrations, rebranding, security and accessibility concerns emerge. These changes threaten an institution's ability to deliver on its digital strategy. Drupal's multi-site functionality allows users to centrally manage a university's primary website while allowing each department to have autonomy over their content. This reduces the overhead of handling code across multiple sites or dedicating time and resources to updating customized, one-off sites.

Choosing Drupal for Your Education CMS

Drupal is a cost-effective and scalable CMS that allows administrators to create content from simple text to interactive media pages. With over 70% of higher education institutions using Drupal, it offers flexibility, accessibility, and affordability. Schools need a CMS that caters to a varied audience, different admin access levels, and creates content that students need and want. A Drupal Web Development partner can help match your school's website requirements with modules and handle ongoing maintenance and upgrades, allowing your team to focus on content that keeps communities informed and engaged. Therefore, Drupal is a worthwhile choice for schools.