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Style Guidelines Updated 12/22/03 This guide describes the stylistic choices that reflect the College's branding strategy. It is important that these guidelines be followed with care so our site will be consistent and professional. All pages on the official web server must adhere to the Web Style Guide. This guide will cover six areas:
Standards Our August 2003 statistics tell us that: 98% of our users have Java-enabled browsers and Javascript 1.2 Our strategy is to design our pages to work optimally at these settings. However, this does not mean that we will exclude browsers with different settings. Global Standard 1: All official KSC web pages should function, at least minimally, in text browsers and graphical browsers on a 15-inch monitor set at 640x480 with 256 colors. Global Standard 2: The KSC "brand" should be visible on every official web page. Global Standard 3: Every official page should have navigational elements in proportion to its depth. That is to say one should always be able to get to the Home Page of that directory and to the KSC Home from any official page. Global Standard 4: Users must be able to find the phone number and/or e-mail address of a contact person on every official web site. Design Professional site design requires attention to detail, knowledge of design fundamentals, mastery of the software, creativity, and, above all, the ability to get the message across to the user. This is a challenge to do for an individual document, let alone an entire web site. Because our site is so large, it is difficult to maintain consistency throughout the site. In order to do so, we have developed a design that is easy to update, yet still professional. Design Standard 1: College Relations is responsible for developing a core design that effectively promotes our brand identity. The design must be dynamic and easy to update. All web pages on the official web server will incorporate the core design. Design Standard 2: The core design may include the use of frames, style sheets, Flash animations, Shockwave applications, Javascript, ColdFusion applications and other technologies where appropriate. Design Standard 3: The core design will limit the size and quantity of graphics as well as the use of text as graphics. To support text-based browsers and users with disabilities, all graphics should be accompanied by alt text and/or a text link. Design Standard 4: All graphics should be created and approved by College Relations. All photographs should be in JPEG format and have a .jpg file extension. All illustrations should be in GIF format and have a .gif file extension. In most cases, photos should be no larger than 250 pixels tall or wide and illustrations should be no larger than 20,000 pixels square (e.g., 200x100, 20x1000, 500x40). Most graphic files should be smaller than 10K. Depending on circumstances, some graphic files may be larger, but should not exceed 30K. Navigation Navigational structure is the roadmap that visitors use to find their way around a web site. A successful implementation of navigational tools lets users know where they are, where they have been, and where they can go. Consistency and comfort are the keys to understandable navigation. The following navigation standards guide us to that end. Navigation Standard 1: Both function and form are important, but without exception, navigation should be functional. Navigation Standard 2: Key navigational elements should be placed down the left side of web pages because users are most familiar with this position. In most cases, each sidebar should have eight or fewer links. Each link may contain up to six sublinks. Additional pages can be linked from other pages in the site. Navigation Standard 3: Our web site should offer multiple ways of finding information, including standard drill-down navigation, an alphabetical index, an effective search engine, and a site map. Navigation Standard 4: Because users may not be familiar with the College's administrative and academic structure, our navigation need not mirror our organizational chart. Content Content is the heart of our site; without it we would have nothing to offer. To distribute our content effectively we must show it to users in a way they will understand. Many of the content standards that follow are derived from various web style guides online. The rest are derived from the College Relations Style Guide used for all external publications. Content Standard 1: Departments are responsible for reviewing the content of their respective pages. Page editors will implement the changes using HomeSite, but they should not alter file names, directory names, style sheets, web applications, or the design of any page. Content Standard 2: Page editors must consult the webmaster before creating new files or directories, as both affect the navigation of the site. No software, graphics, files, or automatically generated pages should be uploaded into any directory on the server without consulting the webmaster in advance. Web directories should not be used as repositories for reports, graphics, calendars, or data. Content Standard 3: In developing content, be brief. Many people do not read web pages; they scan them. If a document is longer than one or two typed pages, break it up into smaller sections and take advantage of the flexibility that hyperlinks offer. Content Standard 4: To improve readability, begin each paragraph with the <p> tag and end it with the </p> tag and keep columns of text narrower than 60 characters. Content Standard 5: Text - typeface, size, color Content Standard 6: Text Style - justification, uppercase, bold, italic, spacing
Content Standard 7: The list tags <ul> and <ol> should lend visual and structural organization to your content. Use the <ul> tag when a list of items requires simple or no bullets. Use the <ol type=""> tag when your list needs to be ordered with numbers, letters, Roman numerals, or a combination of these characters. Both <ul> lists and <ol> lists are indented. Content Standard 8: Tables should also lend visual and contextual structure to your text. Therefore, turn table borders to "0" and use the alignment of the data as well as cellpadding and cellspacing to align your columns. Content Standard 9: Numbers
Content Standard 10: Times and Dates
Content Standard 11: Punctuation. There are any number of "correct" punctuation styles, but using these guidelines will ensure consistency throughout the web site.
Content Standard 12: Perhaps most important, please remember that your web page can be viewed by many more readers than even our most widely distributed printed publications. Please take care with spelling and English usage. Feel free to call College Relations (8-2102) to talk about language issues. Content Standard 13: It is important that web pages load quickly. To this end, .cfm files should be no larger than 50K, and other web documents including .pdf, .doc, .xls, and .ppt should not exceed 300K. Web Applications Web applications - i.e., a group of pages built using a programming language such as ColdFusion Markup Language that offer additional functionality and/or data integration - allow us to exchange information with our users more effectively and efficiently. These standards help insure the integrity, consistency, and appropriateness of the applications and data. Web Application Standard 1: A web application is necessary and appropriate when one or more of the following is true:
Web Application Standard 2: Creating a web application takes a significant amount of time and requires a solid commitment from all parties. The originating department and appointed data editors must take responsibility for maintaining the data. Web Application Standard 3: All official web applications use Microsoft Access as the database platform and Macromedia ColdFusion as the development platform. Web Application Standard 4: All web applications must conform to campus and system wide policies including those regarding security, e-commerce, and privacy. Web Application Standard 5: In order to maintain functional integrity, web applications should be created, maintained, and edited by, or in coordination with, the webmaster. The role of the page editor is to clearly outline the needs of the department and to brainstorm ways in which these needs can be met. Web Application Standard 6: To maintain the integrity and security of the data used in web applications, page editors and data editors must access web application databases exclusively through web forms. Direct access to a database can compromise the integrity of the application and data. Maintenance Site maintenance, the upkeep of all aspects of a web site, is crucial. Out-of-date content makes for a poor user experience. Following these standards will increase the likelihood that the web site will stay fresh and useful. Maintenance Standard 1: Server hardware, software, strategic plans, and policies should be thoroughly evaluated every year. Maintenance Standard 2: Site design, web applications, and navigational structure should be evaluated every six months. Maintenance Standard 3: Regular content pages should be evaluated by the content developer on a monthly basis. News, announcements and frequently asked questions should be evaluated at least once a week. A complete content evaluation of each site should occur annually. Web Style Guide - Introduction |
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Web Policy