National Science Foundation Websites

NSF

OBJECTIVE

In 2006, the National Science Foundation (NSF) had an interim website housing basic content on the upcoming 2007–2008 International Polar Year (IPY). NSF hired Westat to develop an interactive site with higher levels of functionality, structure, and design. In 2007, the NSF enlisted Westat’s support for maintaining the news and multimedia sections of the nsf.gov website..

SOLUTIONS

In 2007, Westat launched the IPY 2007–2008 website for NSF. Working on a tight timeframe, Westat began with architectural and wireframe visions. Next, we developed a common user interface design, conducted usability testing, and created a graphic design. We built and populated templates, using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for consistency and accessibility. A homepage features area, created in Adobe Flash, highlights new content and polar imagery.

Updates to the website are made by the client via a customized content management system, allowing outside agencies and organizations to submit content and images for approval. RSS feeds keep site visitors up to date on the latest news, educational resources, and featured content.

NSF has retained and repeatedly renewed Westat’s services for the support of news and multimedia activities on its website since 2007. As part of this contract, Westat also developed the multimedia Climate Change Special Report subsite for NSF. Features of the site include slide shows that allow the user to browse and view selected images, photo captions for all images, and a multimedia content management tool that allows NSF to post audiovisual materials.

In 2010-11 Westat worked with its subcontractor BottleRocket Applications to develop the Science360 for iPad application for NSF. Featuring amazing images and videos from NSF-funded institutions in high resolution, the application showcases science in a spherical or 360-degree presentation, and allows users to share images and video on Facebook and Twitter or via email.