Since 23rd of September 2020 all schools should have implemented the accessibility requirements for public sector body websites, detailed in the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

If you’re not sure your school’s website and mobile app meets these accessibility requirements it can sound like a daunting task to address. But it really needn’t be, read on to find out more.

What are the requirements for?

Simply put, the requirements are there to make sure that your website is accessible for as many people as possible, including those with impaired vision, motor difficulties, cognitive impairments or learning difficulties, deafness, or impaired hearing.

If you’ve already worked through and met each and every Principle in the international WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standard, then your content will already be considered accessible, but what do you need to ensure you have done if not?

Meeting the requirements

Full guidance on everything you need to put into practice can be found in the Government’s guidance on understanding accessibility requirements for public sector websites and apps, but there are some key highlights:

• Ensure that there are alternatives for non-text content, for example ‘alt text’ descriptions on images
• Provide text transcripts for audio and provide captions for video
• Make sure your content is structured logically and can be navigated by a screen reader
• Use text colours that can be read clearly against the background colour
• Ensure your content is easy to read and in ‘plain English’, with short sentences
• Make sure every feature can be used at increased font sizes up to 200% and ensure that text flows into a single column when it’s increased by 400%
• Ensure your website design isn’t restricted to a specific display orientation, e.g. landscape – a responsive website should ensure that this isn’t the case

What else do you need to be aware of?

Primary and secondary schools, plus nurseries are partially exempt from the accessibility guidelines, so there are some things you might not need to fix, including:

• Pre-recorded video recorded audio and video published before 23 September 2020
• Live audio and video
• PDFs or other documents published before September 2020 – unless users need them to use a service, for example a form that lets you request school meal preferences
• Maps – but you’ll need to provide essential information in an accessible format, such as an address
• Third party content that’s under someone else’s control if you did not pay for it or develop it yourself

Full guidance on exemptions can be found under the Government’s guidelines.

What about an accessibility statement?

An accessibility statement is an essential for partially exempt organisations and handily there is a sample accessibility statement within the guidance, which you can copy and complete for your school’s website.

If you’re looking for a new school website that can help you to meet the latest accessibility guidelines then please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

With the introduction of technology into the classroom over the last few decades education has changed dramatically – and never as dramatically as seen over the last year due to the pandemic. For centuries education was fairly rigid; we attended school each day, were given topics to learn by rote and then tested on our skills of retaining that information via exams. All that changed when computers entered classrooms and new ways of learning were explored, such as e-learning online.
Over the last year you have likely heard many terms banded around, especially ‘hybrid’ and ‘blended’ learning – oftentimes they’re used as one and the same, which is definitely not the case. But what are these new ways of learning, how do they differ from one another, how can they impact your teaching, and more importantly your students’ education? 

What Is Hybrid Learning?

As the name suggests, hybrid learning is a combination of more traditional face-to-face education coupled with offline and distance learning techniques. The combination finds the balance of face-to-face and online techniques to ensure the content meets student needs and maximises learning. For example, a five class a week course would meet once face-to-face and the remaining four classes a mix of distance learning such as e-learning online, online assignments or a Zoom lecture.

What Is Blended Learning? 

Blended learning is the mix of both online and offline – using online instruction as a way to supplement or support traditional face-to-face learning, but not replace it. For example, a five class a week course would meet five times face-to-face but the educator would supplement the learning with online assignments. 

Hybrid vs Blended: The Differences

As we previously mentioned the terms ‘hybrid’ and ‘blended’ are oftentimes used as one and the same, mainly because the subtleties between them are fine. While blended learning focuses on the combination of offline and online instruction with a lean toward face-to-face, hybrid learning seeks to find a balance that ensures the best experience for students needs via any possible learning technique. 

The Benefits Of Both Hybrid and Blended Learning

Due to the similarities of both learning styles and the offering of online interaction the benefits are also similar. The main benefits of blended and hybrid learning are:

• Accessibility 
• Flexibility
• Class capacity
• Tracked learning
• Scalability
• Increased engagement
• Ownership of education

The benefits don’t just extend to students, there are many benefits for teachers too:

• Increased collaboration
• Better work life balance
• Cost saving
• Ability to track and measure student abilities easily
• Expansion of educational topics and courses

The differences between hybrid and blended learning can be fairly subtle however, the outcome and overall lean towards technology are very different. All in all, no matter where or how students are learning, it shouldn’t hinder their needs or what they can achieve.
With schools preparing to return to classrooms from 8th March, you may be wondering how your students can benefit from a hybrid or blended learning approach. Jotter Learn could be just the solution you need. Read more about the platform here, or contact us if you’d like to arrange a demonstration with a member of our team.

If you’re a customer of School Jotter, you will have heard lots already about School Jotter 3 and many of the improvements that we’ve made from our previous website platform. But for those of you who are new to us, we wanted to tell you a little more.
The history of School Jotter
Since its original release in 2008, and with the School Jotter 2 upgrade in 2012, School Jotter has undoubtedly been one of the most popular school website platforms in the UK, with over 6,500 designed and delivered using this software.
But as always technology moves on, as do customer requirements, so we’ve rewritten the School Jotter software from scratch and in 2021 are bringing you school Jotter 3.
What’s new about School Jotter 3?
We’re confident that School Jotter will give schools a more delightful user experience when it comes to controlling and managing their websites. But School Jotter 3 is not just a website content management system, it also offers mobile apps for iOS and Android, which we’ll talk more about in our next post.
We’re proud of the research and development that has gone into the brand new School Jotter 3, we’ve really focussed on re-writing the software and designing a new architecture, taking into account much of the feedback we’ve received from customers over the years.
How different is School Jotter 3 from the previous versions?
School Jotter 3 has been written from the ground up using the latest technologies, with a focus on speed, security, and usability. By focussing on key areas such as page layout management and easy onboarding of users to the web and mobile platforms School Jotter 3 makes life easier for school administrators and teachers.
With the innovative technological approach with School Jotter 3, Webanywhere has planned a roadmap of features which will consistently deliver added value and useful functionality to schools; both to users of the web platform and the iOS and Android apps.
Still unsure about upgrading?
We think there are lots of compelling reasons to upgrade to School Jotter 3, but don’t just take our word for it.  Here are just a few stories of customers who are moving onto School Jotter 3, and why they’ve taken the decision to upgrade.
Simone Peters the Managing Director at Monarch Childcare recently chose to upgrade to School Jotter 3 to make use of the new visual editor. The nursery wanted to enhance their brand and engage better with parents, so alongside the website, they decided to purchase the premium mobile app too. This lets them benefit from the new features such as contact forms and booking management together with instant messaging. Simone saw this as having a competitive advantage over other nurseries in the area in a bid to appeal to new and existing parents who have children enrolled in her nursery.
Gail at Albany Village contacted us when she heard about School Jotter 3, she could see straight away from the short videos how the CMS had been simplified and was much slicker to use. Despite being in contract still for a number of months they have decided to upgrade early and get in the queue for the upgrade and subsequent new design. 
A member of staff at an Infant School in Buckinghamshire had inherited the responsibility of updating the school website from a predecessor. Although she could update it, she found it very cumbersome to upload anything, and found the page layouts so limiting that she decided to stop even trying to change them. 
Karen advised us she would be looking into alternatives as all she knew of Webanywhere was the 9 year old School Jotter 2 software. We presented the new updated version of the software, displaying how flexible editing the page layouts had become and how easy the photos were to upload. Added to that the update came with a brand new theme, Lynx Deluxe was here favourite. 
Martin Allen Deputy Headteacher and all round good sport, took the reins of the website and works alongside the admin staff in updating content. They struggled managing the file manager on School Jotter 2 and the structure of the information and wanted an easy and more efficient and effective way of updating this. School Jotter 3 seems to be the answer for Rawdon Littlemoors, issues and they are looking at the deluxes theme and in particular the Leopard theme which is responsive and fantastic on mobile. School Jotter 3 instant mobile was a game changer and may move them onto the platform. The school have been a loyal customer for many years and hopefully for many more years to come!
Find out more about School Jotter 3
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing lots more updates about School Jotter 3, but in the meantime, if you’re interested in finding out more about School Jotter 3 we’d love to have a chat with you. Book an appointment direct with a member of our sales team here, or get in touch with us at info@schooljotter.com

This year, possibly more than ever before, there has been greater demand put on schools to ensure they’re maintaining effective communication with parents and guardians. The school’s website and mobile app is an essential part of this.
School Jotter 3 is the biggest upgrade we’ve made to our school website and app software in recent years, making it easier than ever to keep parents engaged.
Sean Gilligan, Founder & CEO of Webanywhere said: “School Jotter 3 is the most advanced solution we’ve created and has been built combining the expertise of our development team, with feedback from customers. We’ve already had a number of pre-orders from schools who are excited to use such an intuitive platform, and we’re delighted to be rolling School Jotter 3 out to school’s all over the country, starting this month.”
Arthur Howie, Product Lead for School Jotter added: “The feedback we’ve received from customers has been invaluable in helping us to create School Jotter 3, which will be suited to schools of all types. Whether you’re an individual school or a multi-academy trust, we can create a beautifully designed website and mobile app, which is a breeze to update and maintain.”
One of the first customers to see School Jotter 3, Lindsey Caplan from Irlam Primary School, said: “Everything I’d have liked to see streamlined on our school website has been built into School Jotter 3. Building and editing pages has really improved, with far fewer clicks. I can really see this update saving us time, and making it much easier for other people in the school to become involved in managing our website.”
If your school is interested in using School Jotter 3 for your website and mobile app needs, find out more here, or speak directly to one of our education consultants by calling 0113 3200 750.

School websites have become a vital communication tool during the covid-19 pandemic. Despite the inevitable disruption, the team here at School Jotter is available for new sales queries and to offer advice and support to our current schools. Contact us using all the usual channels – details here.
Many schools have been using this time to update their websites. For some, it’s been a simple case of ensuring information is up to date, while other schools have chosen to give their website a complete overhaul or even rebuilt from scratch to provide a brand new portal providing information and resources to parents, children and other visitors. 
Summer is often the time when schools open their doors to potential new students and their families, but opportunities to visit in person are going to be limited this year. A good website can showcase your school and provide insight into its culture and ethos, making it easier for parents and children to make the best choice possible. 
We’ve put together a list of some of our favourite School Jotter websites from 2020. Have a look at the sites below – perhaps they will give you some inspiration for your own website!
Lindley Junior School –  www.lindleyjun.org.uk/
It’s easy to see why this school’s website made the list! The animated logo is welcoming, and the amazing drone footage immediately draws you in and gives you a unique perspective of the school grounds and facilities. Seeing the children so engaged in play gives you a really good feel for the school without the need for a physical visit. The school’s identity is strongly represented through the use of colours and images, the site is easy to navigate, and the homepage has all the important information you need, including contact details and latest news updates. 
All Saints Church of England Primary School – https://www.all-saints.oxon.sch.uk/
This website also makes good use of colour – there are splashes of green all over the site, giving it a clear and cohesive look. Finding your way around the site is straightforward – the navigation bar is constantly visible at the top of every page, and the calendar at the bottom of the homepage is an easy way for parents to find out what’s going on at a moment’s notice. The large images on the homepage serve two purposes – they are a fun way to showcase the school, and they guide visitors to important pages.
West Acton Primary School – https://www.westactonprimaryschool.org/
West Acton make great use of quick links on their no-scroll homepage, showcasing easy navigation as well as great pictures of the school right on the homepage. It doesn’t stop there either – with the rest of the site jam-packed with information around the school. With videos added to many of the inner pages, West Acton Primary’s website gives a truly virtual experience to prospective parents and makes information available easily to current parents. 
Woodlea Primary School – https://www.woodlea.durham.sch.uk
Woodlea Primary School’s website takes quite a different approach to the first two websites on our list. Rather than scrolling down the homepage to find what you need, all the information is accessible from a single screen, with pop-ups along the bottom of the page taking you to key areas. It’s a simple yet sleek look using Lion, one of our deluxe themes – you can see this and more deluxe templates at themes.schooljotter2.com .
Bushy Hill Junior School – https://www.bushy-hill.surrey.sch.uk
This website uses another of our deluxe School Jotter templates yet has a completely different look and feel to all the other sites on the list. The aerial photo that greets you provides a wonderful overview of the school’s facilities, and the homepage includes a calendar, latest news, and photo links to the areas parents are most likely to visit on a regular basis. 
Rufford Park Primary School – https://www.ruffordparkprimary.org.uk
The final website on our list is different in that it’s bespoke – that is, rather than using an existing template, the theme was specially designed for the school. There’s no scrolling on the homepage; instead, it showcases a single large photograph, along with pop-outs for latest news and events, which is a great way to highlight a specific aspect of your school.  There’s a wealth of information tucked away under the navigation menu, yet the site looks clean and uncluttered.
We hope our list has given you some inspiration about how you can update your school website to showcase it to both current and potential families. Whether you choose a template or a custom theme, there’s a design in School Jotter to suit every school’s needs.

Your website provides a vital link between staff and parents, school and home – or at least it should. There are so many templates schools can use to build a website quickly and easily but many of these could be outdated. They can often look old-fashioned and may be hard for parents to find their way around. So if you’re considering a new website for your school, how can you make sure to build a site that you can be proud of? Here are five key factors to consider. 

Web statistics

Why do people come to your website? Website statistics tell you how many visitors you’ve had, which pages they visited, how long they’ve spent on each page and much more. Once you know what people are looking for, you can make sure key information is easy to access. But you can only do that when you know the stats – so make sure your website design company offers access to them and presents them in an easy-to-understand way (Webanywhere does this! [https://www.schooljotter.com/school-websites]). Use this data to identify the information that is viewed the most and structure your website in relation to the traffic – reducing click rate.

Easy navigation

There’s nothing more frustrating than a website with poor navigation, especially when you’re using your smartphone or tablet. If we can’t find what we want straight away, we generally give up and go elsewhere. This is the same for parents, if they can’t find something in 3 clicks or less, they are likely to get frustrated and call the school office for information. Make sure you have a simple navigation structure that makes it easy to find key information. Again, choose a web design company like Webanywhere who provide simple, straightforward navigation tools.

Keep it ‘above the fold’

Imagine a newspaper, folded in half. Where does the editor put the biggest, most important headline? On the top half of the front page, above the fold … And that’s the most important area of your website too. Think about what you want visitors to do when they land on your site – subscribe to a newsletter, request a prospectus, download a form? Put that CTA – call to action – on the top half of your homepage, and it’s the first thing people see – and the first thing they are likely to do. 

Keep it updated

There’s nothing worse than being out of date, yet so many schools’ websites look like they’ve not been updated for years. A fresh, modern design using your school colours and badge gives visitors a great first impression. It’s not all about looks though – make sure your key information, like contact details, staff directories and term dates, are up to date too. It’s also vital to keep updated with ofsted requirements, such as keeping evidence of current and previous curriculum – a website is the perfect tool for this.

Encourage repeat visits

Finally, encourage people to visit the website by adding new content on a regular basis. Newsletters, field trip reports, photo galleries, a calendar and a blog all help you connect with parents and keep people coming back. 

We’re running a competition to win a free mobile app for schools across the country. All you have to do to enter is get your pupils to create a design showing how they would like your school app to look. We’re accepting 3 designs per school so why not get every class involved, pick your final designs then send them through to marketing@webanywhere.co.uk.

The School Jotter app pushes information straight from your websites through to parents’ phones, using push notifications, so they’re always up to date with what’s going on in your school. This saves time, increases parental engagement and can even help you go paperless, with integrated newsletter and notice functions.

All entries must be submitted by 14th February 2020 for your chance to win!

Click here to download the entry form

The humble mobile app has transformed numerous aspects of daily life.
Our social media apps give us the freedom to chat with people all over the world in seconds. Our banking apps let us manage our finances at any time, any place. And gaming apps keep us entertained on buses, trains and in waiting rooms.
But school mobile apps have even more to offer: they provide schools with streamlined ways to stay on schedule, communicate with parents and educate pupils via interactive tools. Any designed to help pupils learn may be downloaded on a parent or teacher’s smartphone as an educational aid.
Many school mobile apps are available today, so how do you know which are the best?
We’ve picked the top 8 below.
 

#1. School Jotter – School Web Design and Mobile App

School Jotter’s CMS is a complete solution for schools, empowering you with the means to update your website, add content, advertise vacancies, manage CVs, communicate with staff through text messages and more.
The School Jotter mobile app is an excellent complement to the CMS, providing parents with various features and information. They can:

• keep up to date with the latest school events
• view calendars
• read newsletters
• check out galleries
• view maps
• see what homework has been set
• complete forms on the school website
• take part in surveys
• book appointments for parents’ evenings
• send free instant messages

This helps parents stay informed of their children’s school’s latest events, keep in touch with teachers and much more.

 

#2. Duolingo

Educating primary-school children on a second language can be a real challenge, but Duolingo helps to make it simpler.
It has been called the ‘best language-learning app’ by The Wall Street Journal and is (perhaps best of all) free! Duolingo is designed to help users learn multiple languages, including:

• English
• Spanish
• French
• German
• Italian
• Dutch
• Russian

Duolingo makes learning new languages fun and interactive, utilising quizzes and bite-size lessons. This school mobile app is available on Google Play and iTunes.
 

#3. My Study Life

Staying on top of homework, exams and special occasions at school is difficult for young children, but My Study Life aims to change that.
This isn’t just a calendar app — you can use it to:

• see when work is due
• view when exams will take place
• set reminders for classes and unfinished work
• create timetables to reduce the risk of missed deadlines

My Study Life is a helpful app for schools, helping staff and pupils alike stay focused on tasks without confusing dates or classes. It’s available on Google Play and iTunes.
 

#4. Khan Academy

This free app is well worth looking into, providing access to a huge catalogue of videos and other learning resources across many subject areas.
You can use Khan Academy to:

• watch over 10,000 videos and explanations on maths, economics, history, science and more
• make education more interactive with over 40,000 questions
• try exercises and read articles on countless topics

Khan Academy gives teachers and children a vast catalogue of information, serving as an educational aid when studying a huge range of subjects. Achievements can be unlocked for a touch of gamification too, helping to engage pupils.
It’s available for download from iTunes only.
 

#5. Quizlet

Quizlet is a learning app based around flashcards, with multiple functions. This can be used by pupils as an aid to learning and practicing for tests through all years of primary school, as well as for teachers brushing up on subjects.
Quizlet offers the following features:

• prepare for tests and exams with the Learn section
• check your memory using Write
• share flashcards with other users
• implement custom audio and images to reinforce learning

Quizlet is free for the first seven days of usage, and multiple paid versions are available with additional functions. You can download it from iTunes and Google Play.
 

#6. WolframAlpha

WolframAlpha refers to itself as a real-life counterpart to the powerful computers seen on Star Trek, offering information on a massive variety of subjects using cutting-edge algorithms to create answers / reports.
Apple’s Siri is used in some aspects of WolframAlpha. This app can help with:

• elementary maths
• algebra
• astronomy
• geology
• animals
• plants
• dinosaurs
• climate
• calendars
• weather
• geography
• oceans
• historical figures
• linguistics

And much more!
WolframAlpha is an impressive school mobile app that to benefit teachers in the classroom and pupils at home. It’s not free, but its low cost and real potential makes it a worthy investment.
You can find it on Google Play and iTunes.
 

#7. Math Motion: Cupcake!

Many children struggle to learn maths, even at the most basic levels. Not only is the work itself difficult, but just the prospect of studying maths can be incredibly intimidating.
Math Motion: Cupcake! is a colourful, fun mobile app designed to help pupils develop their maths skills by running a cupcake business. It educates through such tasks as:

• fulfilling orders
• working out the cost of every cupcake
• paying loans back

Math Motion: Cupcake! shows how important maths is in everyday life in a practical, more engaging way. This app is available on iTunes only, for a modest price.
 

#8. Star Walk

Space is a fascinating subject to study at any age, but particularly in primary school. Today’s children have access to countless exciting resources on space, stars and astronomy, and Star Walk is a great way to help them learn.
Using Star Walk, you can explore the sky in real time, identifying planets and constellations using just a smartphone. It allows you to:

• locate and discover facts about celestial bodies
• study an astronomical calendar to find when eclipses, meteor showers, full moons and more will occur
• use the Time Machine feature to look at sky maps of the past and future
• explore the night sky with Night mode, making the app more comfortable to use

Many more features and functions are included, making Star Walk an indispensable aid to educating children on astronomy. It requires no internet connection.
You can download Star Walk from iTunes and Google Play for a small cost.
 
Each of these school mobile apps can help teachers, pupils and parents in a specific way, whether that’s building a reliable schedule, exploring historical events or even learning another language.
They’re simple to use and compatible with an extensive range of devices. Prices are generally kept low too, to suit schools on diverse budgets.
Have you used any of these apps, or do you have others to recommend? Let us know below!

Your mobile app is your school’s chance to boost parental engagement.
It’s a sad fact that teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep parents engaged with what’s going on at school.
Parents’ ‘go-go’ lifestyles mean they don’t have time to visit the school’s website for the latest news and announcements.
Hard copies of newsletters often get lost or thrown out.

What does this mean?

• Meetings with parents are missed
• Permission slips never get signed
• Children are dropped off when school is shut for training

Fortunately, the School Jotter mobile app is now bridging the gap between parents and schools and this is why it’s considered the best school mobile in the UK.
Free for parents to download via the App Store and Google Play, Jotter Mobile transformed the way schools communicate with parents.

The app features:

• Latest news and newsletters
• Contact (and be contacted by) individuals and groups of parents for free.
• Push notifications for urgent messages such as snow days
• Calendar for semester dates, meetings and events
• Hot Link – browse an external URL without leaving the app
• Contacts – useful numbers at your fingertips
• Maps – locate a campus or sports field

Even the so-called ‘hard-to-reach’ parent, who has low self-esteem and lacks the confidence to get involved, can at least know what’s going on.
This may eventually entice some to become more involved with their children’s education and school life.
Relying on parents to visit a school’s website for information is optimistic, as this can be time consuming and requires visiting several different pages, whereas with Jotter Mobile, everything can be accessed in moments.
Although Jotter Mobile is a stand-alone product, it works in synergy with our School Jotter website.
Not only does the app refresh automatically when the website is updated, parents can access photo galleries.
As lives get busier, the need for schools to have an app to act as a communications hub is greater than ever. It’s a great way to foster support and keep parents willingly engaged.
With hundreds on order, Webanywhere have already delivered over 1,000 School Jotter mobile apps – all beautifully designed to match a school’s brand and ethos. To date, our app has been used over 1,000,000 times.
Here’s what schools are saying:

“I think it’s great! Easy to use, can be accessed from everywhere. I have it on my phone and tablet. We’ve very happy with it. – St Joseph’s CPS Bradford
“Over a third of our parents use the app, and it is perfect for us because it’s so easy to use and manage.” – Old Sarum Primary School
“Thank goodness About time we have an app for holy family. It will make my life so much easier.well done!!”😁 – Holy Family CPS
“What a lovely app. Very informative and easy to navigate.” – Grange Park Primary School
“Great app.” – Drighlington Primary School

Your school website design is an important part of your school’s presence in the world. It’s a line of communication with parents, a way of celebrating your achievements, and a tool in attracting both pupils and staff. So how can you make the most out of the design?
 

Clear Navigation

It may not be glamorous, but the first thing you should think about is making your website easy to navigate. It affects the structure of the website, and so is fundamental to its design.
To do this, group pages together in a logical hierarchy that fits what people are used to seeing on the internet. Address, phone numbers, email, and a map to find the school should all come under “contact us”. Information about subjects can go together under “curriculum” or “what we teach”. Information about events should start with what’s coming next. A calendar with links to individual event pages can be a great way to tell people what’s going on.
Minimise how much effort it takes to find information. Whenever possible, visitors should be able to find the information they want within three clicks.
 

Accessibility

A few simple measures can make your website more accessible for a variety of users.
Use font colours that stand out well against the background. Black text on a background that’s white or pale is usually best. When making text stand out through different colours, avoid those that might be indistinguishable to the colour blind.
Use alt text for images. Make it describe what you want the picture to convey, as blind or partially sighted users will rely on this text.
Use clear, descriptive text for links, to help those using screen readers.
Some website providers, like School Jotter, include a translate option. If your school serves a diverse community then this can be a huge help by communicating with parents in their first language.
 

Use the Layout

Use the layout of each page to make it clearer and more accessible. For a page with lots of content, include jump links to each part at the top of the page, so that users with limited mobility can get down the page without much mouse use. Include drop down menus and links to break up text and provide extra options.
Because of the way people read, more information is absorbed from what’s at the top and left of each page. Focus the most important information here, to make sure that people see it.
 

Pick Your Font

The font you use can make a huge difference in how easy your website is to read. Avoid quirky choices like Comic Sans or old-fashioned ones like Times New Roman. The best fonts for online reading are sans serif fonts like Arial and Verdana, which are easy to read while looking elegant and modern.
Size matters. The best font size for online reading is 16px. You’ll also want to use other sizes for headers. With these, keep to the same font and to no more than three different sizes, to avoid mess and clutter.
 

Get Visual

Images are great for getting people’s attention and creating variety. You can use them to make pages more attractive and to draw readers to important parts of the page.
When using photos, take care in your choices. To keep them safe, children should not be identifiable from photos, so be careful with faces and don’t match them with names. Photos of eye-catching work can provide an interesting alternative.
Slideshows are another way of making the site more interesting. The movement they provide draws the eye, and they can show visitors a variety of images and text without taking up lots of screen space.
Bright colours create an emotional response and so can be good for drawing attention to important information. Use them sparingly so that they have more impact when they appear.
 

Use White Space

As you try to make the website more eye-catching, it can be tempting to fill it full of images and text. But too much can be overwhelming. Don’t be afraid to leave plenty of empty background space. Then, the text and images you provide will stand out better, and it will be easy to see what’s important.
 

Clear Writing

The content of your website is as important as the way it is presented, so think carefully about what you’re saying and how you say it.
Wherever possible, use plain English to make your message understandable. If you can choose between two words with the same meaning, pick the simpler one.
Break the text up into small paragraphs. It might feel odd as you write it, but simpler, shorter blocks of text are easier for a reader to take in. Where possible, limit paragraphs to around three sentences and don’t let those sentences run on.
 

Break it Down

Divide the writing up with headings and subheadings. Like small paragraphs, this makes the text less intimidating and easier to take in. It also makes it easier for users to navigate the page, skipping to the relevant heading to find what they want.
 

Keep it Relevant

It can be tempting to cram in a lot of information, just like it’s tempting to go overboard on the visuals. This might seem like a good way to tell people more, but in reality it’s often overwhelming.
To avoid this, think carefully about what the important part of your message is and how you can get it across. What do you want people to know after each page? How much extra is going to be interesting or useful?
If you want visitors to do something after reading a page, make this clear through a call to action. For example, a page about an upcoming school trip might end by suggesting that parents fill in the booking form, and then provide a link to the form.
 

Learn by Example

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Check out other schools’ websites and learn from what works for them. For some examples, check out our School Jotter website. There, you can also find out how School Jotter can help you make your own great website.