The Web Governance Admin internship is in its 7th year, having the core responsibility of managing the University’s Website Registry, which contains more than 1,500 website records. This is managed in an externally provided too, Little Forrest, with the post-holder working closer with the supplier’s team and having a direct feedback route to improve and enhance the tool itself. The current intern, Angelina Lai, shares her reflections, being in the post for just more than 6 months.

About Me & My Background

My name is Angelina and I am a third year Philosophy & English Literature student. Before this internship, I felt very unsure about my ability to do this job because I had no background in computer science or tech-wise knowledge. Upon starting the job, I realised that the internship looked for adaptable thinking, good communication, and interdisciplinary skills instead of specialisation in technical skills. I was able to employ my organisation and admin experience in my past work into this job.

Discovering Little Forest

Little forest is the platform that the university currently uses to keep track of our web estate. It analyses each websites performance on content, accessibility, and sustainability. These are important features for website owners to understand. This is because the university has a legal duty to follow accessibility regulations, which applies to websites that fall under and are representative of the University of Edinburgh. Thus, Little Forest’s analysis are very valuable because it provides an easy way of identifying areas on the website that needs improvement. For example, Content features on the report include broken links, spelling mistakes, Missing Title/Title too long. Accessibility features include errors/warnings/notices that indicate features that may go against the WCAG 2.2 Accessibility guidelines that the university follows, such as whether your text colour is contrasted against the background enough. Sustainability features include image size too large, which takes up more data than necessary.

The University is currently striving for a Green web estate—More on sustainability please read Osh’s blog post, reflecting on his experience in the Green Web Estate Internship role.

Little Forest Dashboard

Little Forest Content analysis features

Learning how to use Little Forest has been a smooth experience. Even though it was very complicated with alot of different functions, the Little Forest team was very supportive with weekly meetings, and individual meetings whenever I had questions. I used Little Forest regularly to add new websites, users, and export reports of websites.

What I’ve Learned

I’ve developed my skills in communication with different stakeholders, working with a team of individuals that specialise in different areas, hands-on abilities in administration, and time management with multiple tasks.

Looking Forward

I am currently working with my Manager, Stratos, and the Green Web Estate Intern, Osh, and the Senior Service Designer, Sonia, to create a Little Forest User Guide. This will provide understanding of Little Forest and its benefits to the website owners of our university, and incentivise more owners to use Little Forest. By doing so, they will receive analysis and guidance on their websites, as well as the ensured safety against cyberattacks, which will endanger the safety of the university.