Preservation

DDOT website first to get landmark status

by David Alpert   •   April 1, 2009 10:53 am

DC's Historic Website Review Board designated the DDOT site as the first DC entry into the National Register of Historic Websites yesterday. The landmarking will ensure that the site retains its characteristic look and feel and distinctive organization.

DDOT's historic website appearance.

"DDOT's site is a classic example of the hiararchicalist style of Web site organization, where each page represents a different administrative subunit of a government entity," said GWU Professor of Digital Studies Richard Shortstreth. "Constructed as DC was transitioning from the Barry era to a more technocratic management under Mayor Williams, this site represents a key period in DC's history."

The site's bright red links and long lists of PDFs are some of the distinguishing features separating the site from more contemporary creations. Shortstreth added, "The DDOT site incorporates some highly ornamental URLs typical of content management systems of that historic period. Whereas a more modern sites might use a simple URL like http://www.ddot.dc.gov/director/about.html for the Director's page, the DDOT page adds complex detailing by locating the page at http://ddot.dc.gov/ddot/cwp/view,a,1251,q,573009,ddotNav_GID,1609,ddotNav,|32404|.asp."

Under the recently amended DC preservation law, websites constructed before 2004 can be preserved if they meet one of several criteria including "work of a master," "displayed information about historic events," or "embodies the distinctive characteristics of a coding style, period, or method of layout." The law was passed amid outrage stemming from Metro's recent Web redesign that added modern detailing, such as gradients on the menu bar and large colorful icons, creating an incongruity between Metro's Brutalist architecture and the appearance of the site.

HWRB will review any new sections or features to ensure that they remain "compatible" with the earlier design, including presenting the user with a similar ease of finding information as on the current site. Minor changes can be handled at the staff level, according to State Website Preservation Officer David Baloney.

The Committee of 1100100 also announced plans to conduct a historic survey of blogs using the classic Blogger templates for creation of a potential historic district.

Tip: Michael Perkins.end_

David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.