Why do school websites have so many features? There must have been a lot of thought put into deciding what to include in order for it to be suitable for everyone.
Accessibility Compliance
Make sure that any feature you add to your school website will comply with the WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards. These are the accessibility standards for public sector websites in England and you must adhere to them. Also, make sure that any default settings for accessibility will not have to be added as an afterthought.
Statutory Content Obligations
Schools must publish online information about their school. This information can include details of the school’s curriculum, recent Ofsted reports and other relevant information. Guidance on the information that must be published online by maintained schools in England is available on GOV.UK.
Mobile and Device Performance Websites for schools is covered in more detail at https://www.fsedesign.co.uk/websites-for-schools/.
A large share of parents use their phones to check school news, and to read letters sent by schools. These people are on the move and will use your website in a hurry. So test out any proposed feature on a mobile first, then check out how it performs on a slow connection. If it fails on either of these counts it will be ignored.
Navigation for Different Visitors
As parents, staff, pupils and governors of a school access the school website, they will typically be accessing the website looking for something in particular. So a clear top-level menu allowing them to access information relevant to them is crucial to avoid user frustration and having to deal with contacts to school queries that are already available on the website.
Integration With School Systems
A school calendar, dinner menu and learning platforms are of most use if up to date automatically. Therefore look for features that automatically pull in data from existing systems that your school already uses.
School websites can vary greatly from school to school and therefore a list of requirements for a school website can be drawn up.