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Web Site Development Policy
(Full Version)

Summary and Policy Home Page

Web Site Policy Document

INTRODUCTION: WEB SITE STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES
FOR INSTITUTIONAL AND PERSONAL PAGES

REQUIRED STANDARDS FOR PERSONAL WEB PAGES

REQUIRED STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES FOR INSTITUTIONAL WEB PAGES

SITE RESPONSIBILITY AND ENFORCEMENT OF STANDARDS

I. WEB SITE ENVIRONMENTS AND TOOLS
A. Server environment
B. Desktop development environments
C. Multimedia server environment
D. Web publishing tools
E. Graphic/image files

II. CONTENT ORGANIZATION/SITE ARCHITECTURE
A. Process for Organization

III. CONTENT TEXT – WRITING/STYLE/PRESENTATION
A. Common elements and conventions
B. Structure
C. Diction
D. Correctness
E. References

IV. UWRF BRANDING REQUIREMENTS
A.& B. Common page elements
C. Page size
D. Font style and size
E. Colors
F. Breadcrumbs
G. Content terminology and usage

V. WEB PUBLISHING CONVENTIONS
A. Navigation
B. Accessibility
C. Opening new browser windows
D. Limiting file size
D1. File Management and Naming
E. Optimizing images
F. Use of HTML
G. Use of publishing elements other than HTML
H. Use of layers
I. Use of frames
J. Naming of files
K. Addressing of files
L. Use of alt tags
M. Use of motion
N. Use of meta tags
O. Use of mailto tags vs. HTML/CGI contact forms
P. Use of “under construction” links
Q. Usability by search engines
R. Usability by various browsers/versions/technologies

APPENDIX A. TERMINOLOGY, USAGE, AND SPELLING

APPENDIX B. ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT

Campus Web Development Office
21 North Hall, 425-0661
webmaster@uwrf.edu

SECTION V. Web Publications Conventions

Q. Usability by search engines

STANDARDS:

1. To insure that no gaps exist in the search of your site, set up invisible links to anything that is referenced from image maps, JavaScript, or Flash links.

For example: <a href=“http://www.rfcity.org”></a> or <a href=“.../programs.html”></a>.

Since nothing on this type of link is clickable, it is invisible to the user but readable to a search spider. This type of link can be embedded on any HTML page. Notice there is no clickable text between the tags.

Explanation:
Search spiders and robots index a site by following links from a starting page (on the public access server this will be the UWRF home page) to all of the linked subordinate pages. However, spiders and robots cannot read image map, JavaScript, or Flash links. Without invisible links, a lot of subordinate pages may not be indexed by the search engine, and the users may not find what they need.

Reference and Information:
W3C Cascading Style Sheets

2. UWRF sites should use meta tags to specify a “description” and “keywords” by which search engines will index the page.

Reference and Information:
How to Use Meta Tags
Meta Tag Keywords and Metatag Description

3. One reason that UWRF departments/offices should avoid using frames on their Web pages is that the major search engines often do not properly index sites using frames.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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