Schedule Widget

Project

The Fitness & Recreation center at Boston University needed a simple way to display the operating hours for its various facilities, with an clear way to denote any special events or schedule changes.

Team

I worked closely with another developer and two designers. I was responsible for the frontend programming (PHP and JavaScript) of the widget and the overall structure of the code.

Process

The first problem our team had to solve was maintainence. The existing site was entirely hard-coded. Whenever a facility had an event or a closure, a staff member would have to manually edit the site, then edit it again once the event was over. We created a scheduling system that pulled from multiple external calendars while also allowing custom repeating events, one-off exceptions, and emergency overrides.

We then wrote the logic to combine all these separate datasets into a single, streamlined ticker that could be quickly read by a visitor to the site.

PHP Code

While the widget relied on JavaScript to be able to toggle through different days and facilities, we wanted to ensure it was fully accessible to all users. To this end, it was coded to be fully functional with both screen readers and non-js visitors.

JavaScript Code

Outcomes

Staff said the new system was infintely easier to use and visitors loved being able to quickly tell what facilities were available without combing through the site.