Welcome to the newly redesigned eCALS newsletter. We hope you like what you see.

The redesigned e-newsletter incorporates a number of major technical improvements along with visual updates including refreshed typography, while maintaining the overall content organization our readers are familiar with.

“The most important update is that eCALS now incorporates a responsive design solution, so it’s easier to read, and more accessible, whether people are looking at it on their desktop, laptop, tablet or cell phone,” says CALS web developer Mark Millard, who made the updates based on the vision of CALS Office of External Relations staff members.

Readers will also note:

• A visually interesting, branded header at the top of the newsletter.
• A full-size photo for the top story (instead of cropped to a fixed height).
• A visually distinct footer with helpful links to eCALS resources and CALS social media accounts.
• CALS diversity statement included in footer.

Millard built the redesigned newsletter using maizzle, a web development framework specifically engineered to render html-email markup templates. The framework essentially compiles modern html, css, and javascript code down to markup code for email clients that is more responsive and accessible. Because eCALS readers utilize such a wide variety of devices, operating systems, etc., he ended up testing the look and function of the newsletter in a combination of 50 situations—using a free trial of Litmus, a tool for testing and optimizing designed emails.

The redesigned eCALS newsletter now performs well for most use cases. If you happen to spot a problem or issue, please send a note to Millard via websupport@cals.wisc.edu.