Alhurra.com is introducing a fresh new design for our Arabic and English-language websites meant to better present readers with the full range of our offerings as the premier Arabic-first source of news and commentary connecting the Middle East and Washington.
The cleaner user experience, faster load times and improved navigation system highlight a broader palette of digital insights, including a podcast, four new weekly newsletters, informative video news and features, and a magazine rich in feature stories and expert commentary you’ll see nowhere else.
Alhurra.com has always brought a distinctly American insight to Middle Eastern audiences. But we’ve found that our Arabic and English websites need to give more nuance and clarity in each language than simply translated versions of the same articles can convey; see for yourself by using the EN and AR buttons to toggle between the two versions. We have also created more interactive features to foster two-way conversations and closer relationships with our readers in the U.S. and the broader region, both on the site and through social media.
We hope you’ll make ample use of a more intuitive navigation system with clear, easy-to-use drop-down menus that make it easy to find all our writers and formats. Buttons take readers straight to our newsletters to read MBN’s Iran Editor Andres Ilves’s Iran Briefing, Washington Bureau Chief Joe Kawly’s The Agenda, and our Friday Briefing summing up the best stories of the week. You can also more easily find our weekly podcast, where Matt Kaminski, MBN’s Editorial Chair, joins Editor-in-Chief Leila Bazzi in examining key developments in Iran and elsewhere in the region. A click of the live feed button can take you to offerings including our Digital Salon Series, where Roya Hakakian, our new cultural writer, examines human rights inside Iran. The green Magazine button presents more in-depth magazine pieces such as one by Joumana Haddad on living in Lebanon today.
Sky Monaco, senior designer at Lighthouse Creative Group in Brooklyn, New York, who redesigned the site, says he hopes the new system helps readers “find a story or video they didn’t know existed.” More improvements are in the offing, including a more robust search function and a story box where readers can suggest articles they want us to pursue.
Our goal, ably realized by Monaco, was to offer a more personalized user experience for our growing audience of decision-makers and influencers in Middle Eastern capitals and the next generation of globally connected youth. We offer readers a light mode (sun icon) and a dark mode (moon icon) for reading and watching videos in whichever style you prefer.
Our interactive features include our China Tracker, created by Min Michell and her team, which uses data from various primary sources to graphically represent China’s ever-widening influence in the Middle East. Also check out our “Ara America” photo gallery, which expands with a click to offer a gorgeous experience.
All that and a crisper color palette are meant to offer better access to our main offering: trustworthy and insightful journalism for engaged readers in both the U.S. and the Middle East. “The most successful designs are often invisible,” Monaco says. We hope our relaunch will draw you into a deeper, nuanced understanding of a fascinating region that is always a nexus of world news.