EdGEL (The Edinburgh Global Experience Language)

One of the most admired frameworks in the world of website and web application design is the BBC Global Experience Language. It is a set of style guides, principles and tools that shapes the BBC's online presence, providing a common look and feel so that users are unaware they are browsing different web sites under the same brand.

I presume that many private corporations have a similar set of guidelines. The advantage of the BBC GEL is that it is publically available, so we can see the thinking that has gone into developing it.

At the University of Edinburgh, we have developed a similar set of guidelines, which we call the Edinburgh Global Experience Language (EdGEL).

EdGEL uses a responsive layout, which adapts to the size of the screen that is displaying the content. It defines common University branding, including typography, colout theming palettes, and standard behaviours (e.g. if you click on the University logo, the web site will always take you to the University's home page).

At the technical level, EdGEL is implemented in HTML5 and Javascript, using the Bootstrap library. It also uses the LESS or SASS pre-processors for CSS.

The first deployment of the EdGel was on the central University Website. It is also available for other web sites, and Development Services have packaged it to be used with all new web applications as well.

So, over time, most of the University's web presence will migrate to this common framework. This is one way that we will give all our students, staff, and other users a joined-up view of the University that is focussed on your needs rather than internal structures.

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