Is Your Website in Compliance?

By Sharon Marek, Web Developer UNT Central Web Support

There are guidelines for Web publishing at the University of North Texas. These guidelines are just as important and relevant today as they were in July of 1997. Rather than specifying technological limits or restrictions, these guidelines rightly focus on presentation and communication. Please review these guidelines in conjunction with your own Websites.

Any questions about UNT's Web Publishing Guidelines or how to incorporate these elements in your Website can be sent to www@unt.edu

University of North Texas Web Publishing Guidelines

To ensure professional-quality Web pages that are produced for official uses at the University, the following Web publishing guidelines have been adopted by the Information Resources Council (at its July 15, 1997 meeting.) These guidelines are provided to assist you in creating Web pages that further the University's teaching, research, and service mission.

1. Use the University wordmark on each home page.
   It is necessary that each home page indicate the University's name in the wordmark format, which is the University's name in a special form (Times Bold, 90 percent width, upper and lower case, one line only.) For text-only browsing, an alternate tag with the University's name should be provided with the link to the wordmark image file. Various sizes of the wordmark image are located at http://www.unt.edu/images/.
   
   
2. Sign each home page with the name and title of person responsible for the document.
   It is important that you identify who is responsible for the content, and that you provide any copyright information, if there is any. In some cases you may want to reference both the author of the original document and the person who is responsible for the electronic version.
   
   
3. Date each page and spell out the name of the month in which it was last updated.
   (i.e.,Last updated on December 5, 1995) . While the United States uses month/day/year, the rest of the world uses day/month/year, therefore it is best to spell it out.
   
   
4. Include a complete phone number with area code (i.e., [940] 565-2324) where appropriate (such as on the home page of an academic department that prospective students might call.)
   Remember that not everyone in the world knows UNT's area code.
   
   
5. Include a "back" link or button at the end of every document.
   Home pages should have "Home", "Search", and "Help" buttons link to the appropriate UNT pages.  All other pages should have links that take the user back to the functional area home page or to UNT's home page. Some people might go directly to a document through a Web search and you should make it easy for them to find additional information about your department or the University.
   
   
6. Include a feedback link on each page for comments, suggestions, and corrections.
   Visitors to your pages may have questions or comments and if you make it easy for them to contact you, they are more likely to have a positive impression of your pages as well as of the university.
   
   
7. Keep graphics small in both size and number.
   Remember that many people access our site over dial-up lines and a 50 KB graphic file takes at least 28 seconds to download over a 14.4KB modem. Various UNT logos may be found at http://www.unt.edu/images/ . Also, remember that most clip art is copyrighted and you must obtain permission to use it.  If you do use it with permission, give the proper credit to the artwork by showing the owner's name.
   
   
8. Be realistic about what you are able to publish and maintain on the Web.
   Review the links on each of your pages at least every month and update links and contents as needed. Software to perform the link checking is available to assist with that task: check with the UNT Web Administrator for recommendations about the best product to use. While some material is more time-sensitive than others, most information ages and is useful only for a limited time unless it is updated. If the person responsible for the page is notified of outdated information, he/she is expected to make corrections within a week . Note that UNT's Web Publishing Policy assigns ownership and responsibility for the accuracy of Web publications.
   
   
9. Check the spelling and grammar on all material before you put it on the Web server.
   Poor spelling and bad grammar give a very negative impression of an educational institution!
   
   
10. Link to the university's affirmative action, equal opportunity employer and Americans with Disabilities statement or abbreviation (AA/EOE/ADA) from each college or department home page.
    The statement can be found at http://www.unt.edu/aaeoeada.html.

UNT's Web Publishing Guidelines were written by Maurice Leatherbury, Chair of UNT's Team Web and Director of Academic Computing Services.