With an increasing percentage of users accessing the web on mobile devices, the arts need a comprehensive responsive site.
ArtsHub’s new site will provide a new level of usability and easy access on smart phone, tablet or PC. Users will be able to get the latest jobs wherever they are, find out what’s on in a region they are visiting, check out reviews while standing at the ticket counter or browse the latest arts news on the train.
Our weekly email bulletins – Jobs, What’s On, Money and News – will be fully accessible and integrated from your mobile device and users will be able to share our content with friends directly through social media from any platform.
Anyone interested in the arts will be able to get information for the main ArtsHub site while the industry will have access to specialist hubs Visual ArtsHub, Performing arts, Screen ArtsHub and more to come.
As this report on the Five Mistakes Artists Make Online observed, having a website is not enough. Arts organisations need to ensure their sites have the right functionality, images and integration.
Mobile usage is growing fast in Australia and around the world, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). In 2012 almost half (49 percent) of Australian adults owned a smartphone. That figure was up 25 percent from ownership levels in 2011.
Internet usage on mobile is growing too. Almost a third of the population used the internet through their mobile phones in 2012, up from 21 percent the previous year. ACMA is yet to release its 2013 report but numbers are expected to have increased sharply as smart phone and tablet users tap into the full potential of their devices.
Greg Sterling of Search Engine Land predicted in February that within a year mobile devices will account for at least half and perhaps 60% of internet usage.
Arts industry users and arts lovers in general are ahead of the pack. Even without a responsive site, 30% of total traffic to the ArtsHub site is from Mobile devices and 51% of new traffic is from mobile devices.
ArtsHub Chief Operating Officer Fiona Reid said providing a responsive cross-platform site was an essential part of making ArtsHub the place to go for arts information, not just for the industry but for everyone who goes to galleries, enjoys a show or listens to music – more than 90 % of Australians.
‘ArtsHub users are going to love the new site. They will be keeping up with their arts news and finding out what’s on when they are drinking lattes in their local cafes, commuting or even lying in bed. We are making it easier and more enjoyable to be engaged with the arts and that’s great for audiences, artists and the industry,’ she said.
