Dear CC Community,

We’re rolling out the next major step in Colorado College’s brand refresh: an updated look and feel for the main CC website, www.coloradocollege.edu. Our anticipated launch point is the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 27.

This is an exciting milestone, and it’s also important to be clear about scope: This is a new design theme—a look and feel enhancement—across the existing CC website with content changes only to the global navigation and the College’s top-level landing pages for our primary audiences’ benefit. The same webpages, URLs, CMS, and editing workflows that we are all used to will now be presented in an updated, on-brand design. As with any major launch, there are a few variables that can only be tested in a live environment. While we do not anticipate issues given the preparation to date, if anything unexpected arises, the site will temporarily revert to its current version while our team addresses it. Troubleshooting would take place the following business day, with the launch resuming the next evening.

What you’ll see post-launch

You’ll see a refreshed, more contemporary coloradocollege.edu experience, including:

An updated design system across standard page templates and components
A new CC homepage and refreshed top-level landing pages (e.g. About CC, Academics, Admission, Campus Life)
A new global header and footer sitewide

What to be aware of

This is not a full content rewrite of the approximately 15,000 pages on CC.edu.

Outside of the homepage and top-level landing pages, most pages will have the same content and structure, simply presented in the new theme. No “content lockdown” is needed. Web authors can keep editing as usual in Cascade CMS; there’s little to no impact on day-to-day content publishing.

Some features will feel a little different at first. A few things that may stand out:

The new CC brand experience in an interactive form: our typography, color, spacing, and more designed for clarity and readability
More consistent, modular components, which help us improve things more quickly and reliably over time
Enhanced navigation system and clearer ways for people to move through the website. With this, some pathways and labels will shift as the new global header and footer rolls out. If something you’re used to clicking feels “moved,” that’s likely to be expected, and it’s a great time to use search.

We’re also improving accessibility and performance, including stronger alignment with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Level AA and ongoing attention to speed and performance.

Want a preview?

Preview the updated design on your existing website right now.

For a sneak peek at the forthcoming landing page experience with its new bells and whistles, check out the video below:

We are incredibly excited and honored to bring this latest enhancement to the CC website and community. This is the start of a new and dynamic era for us as we share our CC story—with more clarity and interactivity than available before. We look forward to collaborating with each of you to continue enhancing CC communication channels in seasons to come.

With appreciation,