AF.mil unveils new design

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Vanessa Young
  • Defense Media Activity-San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO (AFNS) --  Air Force officials unveil a new look for the service's official Web site, AF.mil. For frequent visitors to AF.mil some of the changes will be obvious at a glance.

The redesigned site features a larger layout, larger photos, new technology and less clutter. It offers users new content types with the inclusion of slideshows, new video capability, blog-like commenting on content and improved search capability.

"We're excited to be rolling out the new design and template for Air Force Public Web," said Larry Clavette, the director of the Air Force Public Affairs Agency and the owner of the Air Force Public Web Program.  "The new design packages a lot of features our users asked for. The site itself offers more room to display content. The design is streamlined, it has a neat, clean look and feel. Our main goal here was to make things easier to find and easier to navigate."

The Air Force Public Web Program is a service-wide effort to consolidate all public Web sites to improve security, reduce redundancy, increase performance and standardize site appearance across the 315 sites in the program. AF.mil is the first to roll out with the new design, but the remainder of the Air Force's sites will migrate to the new format before the end of 2009.

The launch is the culmination of almost a year of work that includes research, focus groups and system development, testing and deployment. The whole process began when Air Force officials launched a usability survey in 2007. The research determined users liked the rich content of AF.mil, but commented on the poor navigation.

According to Mike Carabajal, AF.mil webmaster, a main priority of the redesign was to re-evaluate the information on the Web site and 'trim the fat' to keep the design clear of clutter while offering more to users.

The most visible changes of the redesign are the white space and the fewer links and tabs. The new design features only three top navigation links versus the old site's 13 links and displays half the number of sections to make information easier to find.

The site also features new technology that allows users to comment on content posted on the site, embed video capability and a redesigned, customizable photo and art gallery.

"We're excited to unveil the new templates and get user feedback to see how we've met their expectations," said Mr. Clavette. "Web technology and innovation is a never ending pursuit for improvement and capability. The cycle begins anew now for us."

Toward that goal, some AF.mil visitors will have the opportunity to comment on the usability and the new features of the site through a pop-up survey beginning in June.