Here's a summary of the features and fixes included in the June 2020 Contensis software update.
New Features
Videos on the research spotlight pages have iframe titles
Now automatically sourced using the YouTube API (if the standard YouTube embed control is used), with the option to add a caption (description) underneath the video if needed. The caption uses the field previously used for 'title', so to remove the caption, simple delete the title.
Fact file CTA buttons for Dubai PG pages
Updates have been made to the PG Dubai fact file buttons on course pages. Previously, these buttons were the same as the UK PG courses and users who clicked on them from a Dubai course page were taken to pages ont he UK site which did not provide appropriate content. We have now created two new fact file buttons for PG Dubai course pages, 'Request a prospectus' which links to the Dubai prospectus form and 'Open Day' which links to the Dubai events listing.
Accommodation Filter
A new filter system had been added to the main accommodation page following user discovery and testing. Prospective students will now be able to filter accommodation options by student type, catering, bathroom options, village and price range. We have also implemented icons to the accommodation results within the search which mean users can easily locate key information such as bathroom type and catering.
Update to YouTube Embed
To ensure a consistent approach when adding transcripts to YouTube videos we have made updates to the YouTube embed to include the option for turning on or off a transcript link. The following field has been added to the metadata in these areas:
- News templates: 'NewsYouTubeVideoTranscript'
- Events templates: 'EventYouTubeVideoTranscript'
For News and Events templates if a transcript is available you will just need to enter the URL and the text '(Video Transcript)' will automatically be hyperlinked underneath the video thumbnail in the page. If you do not have a transcript page to link to then leave this blank.
- Course pages and country pages: An additional section has been added allowing you to select a page containing the transcript of the YouTube video within the CMS. Again, the hyperlinked text '(Video transcript)' will automatically appear underneath the video thumbnail if a URL is present.
YouTube Anonymisation
The YouTube embed control has been updated to use the anonymised version of the YouTube URL that is inserted. This ensures that we do not collect personal data from visitors to the site without their permission. Editors will see no change in the way they use the control but visitors will be watching a 'no cookie' version of the URL.
Accessibility
Promo Accessibility
Promo rows now only take focus once to improve the experience of those with accessibility requirements visiting the site.
Broken skip to content links
These were published pre-release but were key to ensure those reliant on tabbing through our website could easily skip to the main content of the page. These were fixed in the following areas:
- Institute pages within the research section
- Research landing pages now jump past the menu
- Research theme listing now jumps past the menu
- Research page with header
- Quest article page
- Quest home page
Bug Fixes
Videos appearing small on course template
We received a couple of reports that videos on the Teaching and Assessment tab of the course pages were appearing very small. The YouTube embed has now been tweaked to ensure it now expands to fill the space available.
Duplicate labels on news search
Labels were duplicated on the news search within the Birmingham Brief. This has now been resolved.
Upgrades
Pure 5.17
Staff profile integration upgraded to be compatible with the next version of Pure. No visible changes to editors but a large piece of work to ensure a smooth transition to the next version of Pure.