Why “Disruptive” School Website Design Isn’t Always the Best Idea

School Website Design That Works

When designing a school website, it’s tempting to be trendy and push the boundaries with an unconventional design.

In a world where we’re often surrounded by flashy, modern designs, it’s easy to forget that school websites need to be functional and easy to use.

Your School Website: The Hub of Your School Community

Your school website is so much more than just a digital presence. It’s the central hub of your entire school community. Parents visit for news and information, OFSTED inspectors check for compliance and pupils visit for term dates, homework and lots more…

Beautiful designs are great, but if they make it hard to find important information, your website fails in its purpose. If visitors can’t quickly find essential details like term dates, contact information, curriculum pages or news, they’ll become frustrated and overlook beautiful design.

Clarity and Accessibility Are King

At Lemongrass Media, we ask a simple question during the design process: “Who is our audience?” When it comes to school website design, the answer is simple: parents, staff, pupils and prospective parents. Above all, they want information presented clearly.

Imagine a homepage with a quirky layout, confusing navigation or text overlaid with animated GIFs. That design style might be perfect for a fashion website, but for a school website design, it’s not what parents of your Year 6 pupils want to see when they’re searching for uniform information. A traditional layout is not boring, it’s effective. Clear menus, simple navigation and accessible formatting make a website work for everyone, regardless of their technical ability or level of patience.

Balance Beauty with Function

We’re not suggesting you have to be boring! A school website doesn’t have to be plain or outdated. You can have a beautiful, engaging website that’s also imaginative and creative. It’s all about making design decisions that balance beauty with function.

Take your colour scheme, for example. You’ve chosen a bright palette that matches your school’s fun personality and that’s great, but it’s more important that your text is readable. Beautiful photos of pupils and your school are wonderful, but make sure they don’t slow down your website or overwhelm important information.

Animations, video banners and quirky layouts can add character to your website, but use them sparingly and for purpose. They should enhance your content, not hide it. By balancing beauty with function, your website will work for everyone while still reflecting your unique school personality.

The Dangers of a Highly Unconventional Website Design

We’ve given you good reasons to avoid an unconventional website design, but here are a few examples of what can go wrong when form trump’s function.

1. Fiddly Navigation
   You might think placing your menu in an unconventional location is a modern twist, but if visitors have to work hard to find what they’re looking for, they’ll become frustrated. Parents searching for your fees shouldn’t have to play a game of online “whack-a-mole” to find them.
2. Too Much Multimedia
   A website packed with video and too many animations is great if you have a fast broadband connection, but many visitors access your website on slower mobile networks. A slow-loading website is frustrating and can harm your search engine rankings.
3. Unusual Fonts and Layouts
   A decorative font might be beautiful, but if it makes your text hard to read, you’re failing your visitors. An unconventional layout might be creative, but if it confuses them, you’re not doing your job. Accessibility is paramount, especially for parents and staff with visual impairments or learning difficulties.
4. Muddled Messaging
   Clear communication is at the heart of school life—sharing policies, celebrating successes and alerting parents to early closures due to snow. An artistic website design is lovely, but if it muddles your messaging, you can’t effectively communicate with your community.

Creative Innovation

You don’t have to throw the rulebook out the window to be creative. At Lemongrass Media, we enhance what already works well by adding a few clever touches to our school website design. We customise each website to showcase your unique school personality while making sure it works for everyone.

Good design isn’t about being different for the sake of it; it’s about being better. Your school website should be a valuable resource for your entire community. By prioritising accessibility, reliability and clear communication, you can have a website that’s beautiful, practical and easy to use.

Is it time to bring your school website into the 21st century without losing sight of what really matters? We’d love to help you at Lemongrass Media. Get in touch today to find out how we can create a bespoke website solution that reflects your school values while making sure the design works for everyone.