When is a Web Upgrade Not Really an Upgrade?

• "Will we still be able to make text changes ourselves and add new pages whenever we need to, or will we have to contact you every time?"

• "Will simple text changes or page additions take just a few seconds, as they do now with our current web site, or will changes now take hours, days, even weeks?"

• "Will users still be able to download the pages quickly, no matter what kind of browser they are using or what kind of Internet access they have?"

• "Will bookmarks that users have already established for pages on our web site still work after this 'upgrade'? Will page addresses change?"

• "If you stop working with us after this 'upgrade,' how easy will it be for the next person to take over maintenance of this site?"

My point, and I do have one, is that what a web developer may consider as an upgrade may actually be a major obstacle that will impede the organization in serving its constituencies. Making a web site more "cutting edge" from a designer's point of view may not be easier, quicker or better from a user's point of view or the point of view of the staff.

Web developers should remember that the goal of a nonprofit organization's web site is to support the goals of the organization and to communicate with the nonprofits' primary constituencies on a sustainable, meaningful basis. Developers need to be conscious and respectful of not only this goal, but also, of the organization's resources: don't just dazzle with the latest technologies; build organization's capacity to use and sustain what is developed for the company long after you are gone.

Sermon over.

For a similar lament, see the Tech4Impact article "The Demise of a Terrific Web Site".

Also see "When Newer Isn't Better," from NetAction Notes.

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