Web Design Standards

Web Design Standards

Contents Roles and Responsibilities... 3 Design Guidelines... 4 Page Layout... 4 Font and Styles... 4 File Types... 5 Page Names... 5 Images... 5 Academic Departments Required Content... 5 Special Event Pages... 6

This document is intended as a guideline for members of the Colorado Mesa University community who are charged with maintaining the University s web content. As you begin a project, your first point of contact should be the CMU Marketing Department, which includes a team of professionals responsible for coordinating and managing web design and programming projects. To contact the department, please call 970.248.1412. Colorado Mesa University has implemented Adobe s Contribute content management system which will allow an easy way for users to add content to our website. It also allows the enforcement of design standards through the use of templates and cascading style sheets. Roles and Responsibilities The Web Committee Director of Marketing, Webmaster, IT Representative Maintains policies and procedures regarding the web site, including design standards Defines the look and feel of the website Defines the site map and decides how web pages are linked Approves requests for new web sites Audits the Website for visual consistency and voice Director of Marketing Chairs Web Content committee Works with vendors to develop interactive content Digital Communications Manager Maintains navigation for each web site Creates and updates templates Works with content providers to create pages requiring special navigation like accordion panels, tabs, etc. Maintains certain key pages, including the home page and the A to Z index Maintains shared resources IT Maintains Contribute / Website Security Maintains Folder Structure Issues Contribute Keys Provides Contribute Training Department Chair / Director Updates web content or designates a content provider for the department Approves content created by designees Recommend A to Z topics Content Provider

Creates and Maintains departmental pages Makes requests to the Web Master for new navigation, templates, or special page requests Design Guidelines Page Layout To provide visual interest and easy to read pages, try to create a balance between images and text. Use contrasting shapes and colors. Templates have been created that provide consistency for the web site, but also allow for visual interest. Use a variety of templates. Make sure that all portions of your page are balanced. Do not have one section of a page that is considerably longer than other sections. In general, make shorter web pages that contain no more than two pages worth of information. Long web pages require the user to remember too much information that scrolls off the screen; users easily lose their sense of context when the left hand navigation or major links are not visible. Use links to pdf documents to disseminate information that is more appropriate as a printed document, like policies and procedures, program sheets, etc. Consider alternate design techniques like accordion panels or tabs when developing pages containing repetitive information. The Webmaster can create pages that contain alternate designs. Do not use graphical embellishments such as horizontal rules or buttons. They make web page layouts confusing and conflict with the established navigation standards. If you want to include supplement materials on your site such as program sheets, parking maps, campus maps, Grand Junction Attractions, hotels, etc. link to the appropriate pages on the website. Do not copy to your web page. These files are universal information and must remain current. They reside in the campus info folder. If you have universal information, provide it to the Webmaster, so that it can be included as a shared resource. Avoid dating content such as our program has been at Colorado Mesa University for years. (This type of content is more difficult to maintain and will quickly become outdated) All pages must be reviewed at least once a semester. Delete files of outdated pages. Do not add links on the left hand navigation, even though that area is editable. If added, the navigation will not be consistent with the rest of the site. The Webmaster will add those links for you. Make sure you spell check the text on your web pages. Font and Styles In Contribute, you will have access to the CMU approved style sheet. This will allow you to add interest and emphasis to page elements while maintaining consistency in colors and fonts.

Use only the predetermined styles. They appear under the publish button when you are in edit mode. Use Heading styles only for content separation (as you would in a word document). Do not manually change font family or size. Bold and italic can be used. Do not underline anything that is not a link (links will automatically underline). Under page properties only change the title. Do not change any settings under Appearance, Links or Headings. These styles have already been set up for the coloradomesa.edu site. File Types Links to all.pdf documents must open in a new browser window. Documents that are better suited for printing should be made into pdfs. Do not post Word documents, unless there is a compelling reason. Page Names Do not create a file name that contains spaces. This includes web pages and pdf documents. Do not use capital letters in file names. Keep file names short, 15 characters or less. Images To conform to ADA, the alt tag must be present for all images. Do not link to or copy images on other web sites. An image library contains photos that you may use. To find them, click Insert, Image, from shared assets. If you want to add a photo to the shared assets, please email the photo to the Webmaster so that it can be properly sized. Academic Departments Required Content On the left hand navigation, each Academic Department must have a Degrees link and a Faculty Link, at a minimum. Degrees may need sub-links depending on the number of degrees and the organization of the department. Additional navigational headings may be used if they are pertinent to your department. For instance, your department may require a performance or events page. If your department has only a few events, put them on the home page. Include the following information about each faculty member: Name, degree, office room number, phone number and email address. Optionally include a photo, website URL, and other information.

Do not include course descriptions or course requirement on your site. That content is provided by program sheets and the course catalog which are provided through Academic Affairs. Special Event Pages Occasionally your department may require a sub site for a CMU hosted event. Such sites must be approved by the Web Committee before being created. Events must be a Colorado Mesa University event (not just hosted on campus) to have a site on the CMU site. All pages must maintain the look of the templates. After the event is completed, the special site must be removed or, if it is a recurring event, archived.