With a new look, AIDS.gov bets the future of government web is responsive

Source: AIDS.gov

AIDS.gov launched a new website redesign Thursday, incorporating a “responsive” interface that adapts the presentation based on the device a visitor is using to access the site.

“The new site that we’ve launched is a responsive design,” AIDS.gov Deputy Technical Lead Jeremy Vanderlan told FedScoop. “It really is focusing on meeting three primary classes of users: mobile users, tablet users and regular desktop users.”

AIDS.gov first launched on World AIDS Day in December 2006 and has undergone a number of iterative designs since. A mobile-specific version was launched in 2010. The AIDS.gov team first leveraged the responsive approach to web design with the Facing AIDS microsite in 2011.

“We knew that eventually we were going to have to build something that was more future-friendly and adaptable to this kind of coming complexity. There’s going to be another device somewhere down the road that we’re not going to be able to anticipate, and we wanted to do something that would make it easier to work with it once it’s out there,” Vanderlan said.

Listen

Vanderlan discusses the AIDS.gov site redesign, what the team learned implementing responsive web design practices and developing for an increasingly mobile audience with FedScoop Radio.