There has been a lot in the news lately regarding the American election and their new President – President Biden.
We aren’t here to get into politics so don’t fear. Instead, we wanted to focus on the new White House website.
Every new president updates the White House website at the start of their term in office, makes perfect sense given that the website is an immediate platform for their policies and actions throughout their term/s. What is most interesting about the latest update is not only how dramatic the change in style is but how accessible it is.
White Space for the White House
The new website has lots of negative white space which helps to focus the user – less is more, especially when you are dealing with a site with the main focus being to provide information.
The layout that this negative white space creates lends itself very well to lead the user through the website without fuss or distraction. The messages that are on the page pop out leaving very little possibility of them being misunderstood.
What is ‘Negative White Space’?
Negative space is a term used to explain the empty/blank space included as part of the website’s design. This open space acts as padding to focus the user’s eye towards a particular message, image or piece of content.
‘Negative space’ should not be confused with ‘passive space’ which is where there is a glitch that causes a gap in the content or design which leads the user to believe that there is a fault with the website.
Negative space appears professional and purposeful, whereas passive space makes the user believe that there is a problem with the website. Even an untrained eye will be able to spot the difference between these two types of spaces.
Negative space does not need to be white, it can be any colour that suits the company branding. For the White House, they have kept their negative space white as that reflects the branding for the White House.
Translated for All
The new White House website is now accessible to all, no matter your language or impairment.
The focus for the new website is to make the information clear and easily understood, gone away are large chunks of text, now there are more visual cues and graphics to help communicate the same information.
The website itself can be translated into multiple languages, including Spanish, which is a huge benefit for a country that has 41 million Spanish speakers. But also for the rest of the world as it allows people in non-English speaking countries to see what the U.S. government is doing considering the part that America plays on the world stage.
When using the website you can choose the contrast to suit you - whether that be ‘dark mode’ or to increase the text size. Components that not only suit those with visual impairments but also make the site easier for everyone as even those with 20:20 vision can have a preference for certain text size or background depending on the device they are using or the light where they are viewing the website.
They say they wanted to be able to reach the widest audience they could and we think they have achieved this.
Mobiles and Speed
From a technical standpoint, the new White House website has been built to a very high level indeed.
The content and features used have all been optimised for mobile use and for fast loading speed. A vital component for any website nowadays.
If you want to learn more about the importance of mobile optimised websites and how the speed your site loads play a part in the success of your website then check out any of the following blog posts.
New Websites to be Indexed by Google Mobile First
The Reality of a Slow to Load Website
Even the Speed of the Build
The most impressive part about this website is that it came together in just 6 weeks!
For a website that has so many stakeholders all providing their input and has to be absolutely spot on in terms of content and functions, the time it took is a huge achievement.
No doubt there was a sizeable team working on it all hours of the day, but even so, it doesn’t make it any less remarkable. The agency behind it, Wide Eye, admitted that it was a piece of work that would have normally taken them at least 6 months.
What Can You Take Away from this New Website?
Firstly, that if you are President of America you have the funds and resources for a huge team of web designers, web accessibility experts, web content creators, graphic designers, website developers and online marketers to create a fantastic website in just 6 weeks.
Going back to reality.
The key thing to take away from this website is the ease of use.
From the design of the pages to the way the content has been laid out, the use of colour and graphics to communicate information, and the focus put on ensuring that the technical elements of the website are up to scratch for the demands of our 21st-century tech.
All elements that you can bring into your website.
If you want to read more about the new White House website then check out this article with FastCompany.com.
Published: 26th Jan 2021