BRADENTON — Manatee Technical Institute web design students Lizbeth Gonzalez and Daniel Ferrigon recently redesigned the “To Inform Families First” (TIFF) website as a way to give back to the community.
TIFF is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting voluntary emergency contact registration with State Departments of Motor Vehicles, enabling law enforcement representatives immediate access to family members in a case of emergency.
The students redesigned the web site to update its look and feel, to reflect the growing importance of the initiative, and to provide more features that make it easier for people from different states to register.
Founded by its president Christine Olson with support from the Senator Bill Galvano, TIFF has become one of the top civic and community projects in the U.S. with over 8,000,000 people registered.
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The students who worked on the site redesign are winners in the 2013 Florida SkillsUSA Web Design competition. Gonzalez and Ferrigon placed first and second respectively.
Gonzalez just completed the MTI Web Design program and plans to continue her education in MTI’s Digital Design program. She graduated from the Manatee School of Arts in 2012. She is a member of the National Technical Honor Society.
Ferrigon will complete the program in January. The 30-year-old New York City native plans to work in industry as a freelance web designer.
Instructor Vera Bourenina is happy with the continued relationship with the TIFF organization. Other students of hers developed the original version of the TIFF web site several years ago. “As future specialists in web design, they can discover the power they have to positively impact the lives of many people.”