The might and authority of the people of India, the largest democracy in the world, which pervades this Republic is represented by the President of the country. The official website of the first Citizen of India was recently revamped and transformed into a graphically appealing and completely dynamic website (http://presidentofindia.nic.in).
Though the President’s Office already had a website for the past few years, a need was felt to enhance the content and visual appeal as well as add some dynamic features which facilitate an interaction between the Hon’ble President and the common citizens. The re-designed Website, a joint effort of the President’s Secretariat, the concerned NIC Cell and the Webservices Group at NIC HQ, is an online resource of information about the following: President of India, magnificence and glamour of Rashtrapati Bhavan, presidential retreats, ceremonial functions, Mughal Garden, Herbal Garden, a brief about the former Presidents of the nation, a collection of speeches / lectures / addresses / banquet speeches as well as press releases & recent events in multilingual format using dynamic fonts.
In a special ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, The Hon’ble President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, launched the new website on 25th January 2004. During the event, the President personally appreciated the efforts of the NIC Teams involved in the project.
Salient Features of the Web Site: A special module called “Children’s Corner” has been incorporated in the website which enables the children to ask questions to the President through a specially designed form. Lectures and speeches can be downloaded in different formats including Audio/Video. Some of these speeches in languages other than English, such as Hindi and Tamil have also been provided using Dynamic Fonts. The Recent Event & Press Release Sections on the Home Page list the latest events for easy accessibility. The website features an attractive Media gallery which displays various sections of the magnificent Rashtrapati Bhawan in the form of still pictures, audio and video clippings. The Press Coverage section directly links to the online newspaper websites. User-friendly search helps the viewers to access information based on date, subject, location, title and contents.
Design and Aesthetics The website has been conceptualized with emphasis on aesthetics blending traditional values and an aristocratic feel. The layout features flexibility for the content managers to add or update new items without disturbing the look and feel of the site. Mellowed user interface design exclusively conceptualized for this site enhances its unique nature. The visual outlook of the site certainly stresses the Indian Identity, which is valued much by an international visitor. The Navigation throughout the site has been designed to keep it simple so that the visitor does not face difficulty in tracking the desired information.
Content Management System In order to enable the President’s Secretariat to update and maintain the website as often as desired and with total convenience, a browser based user-friendly Content Management System (CMS) has been developed for the Presiden’t Website. All the modules in the websites can be easily updated using this Content Management System without the need for any html authoring. CMS provides a web based user interface for updating the contents of this website, by simply copying the text, images, speeches in various formats, at the appropriate input fields, as well as, upload audio & video version of these speeches which in turn are inserted into the database and then retrieved & presented as a Web Page. The beauty of this site lies in the organization and variety of content & information that it provides and also in terms of ease of navigation and accessibility. For further information, mail to wsmad@hub.nic.in