UWSP Web Page Standards and Design Guidelines Features to improve your web pages


Approved February 9, 1996: UWSP Web Advisory Committee Amended and Approved May 1, 1996: UWSP Faculty Senate

Required:

  • Provide the full Internet e-mail address of the Web page maintainer.
  • Provide a link to the UWSP home page from the parent (department of origin) home page.
  • Provide a link to the parent home page ("Return to xxx department home page") on all supporting local pages.
  • Maintain up to date pages.
  • Proofread pages and test links before putting them on the Web, and regularly test and update links.
  • Know the function of HTML tags and use them appropriately.
  • Use the ALT attribute for images for the benefit of users not using graphics or using a browser without graphics capabilities.

Recommended:

  • Provide information on timeliness (for example: January 1996; updated weekly; updated monthly, etc.).
  • Provide a section indicating "What's New."
  • Provide a caution statement if link will lead to large pages or images.
  • Indicate restricted access where appropriate.
  • Avoid browser-specific terminology (for example, "pull down the View menu and select Source").
  • Provide link text that is clear without the link (for example, on a paper copy of your Web page, the phrase "click here" doesn't make sense).
  • Maintain visual consistency across related pages. You could also include a small graphic that identifies all of the pages of a Web site.
  • Provide a copyright statement (if and when appropriate).9. Keep home pages short and simple.
  • Avoid using large graphics or too many graphics on a single page.
  • Provide navigational aids useful to your users (Link to Home, Table of Contents, Next Page, etc.).
  • Maintain links to mentioned pages. Make your Web pages easy to maintain for yourself and anyone who might maintain them in the future.
  • Avoid active links to pages that are in development. Place test or draft pages in your "test," "temp," or "old" subdirectory.
  • Remember that nothing is private on the Internet: unlinked pages in your directory may be visible.
  • Check your finished page with a variety of browsers, monitors, and from both network and modem access points.
  • It is also recommended that you check your page with a Web validation service.
  • Think of your users--test with primary user groups (which will be a mix of users linking through our high-speed network, and users linking via much slower modems).
  • Conform to accepted, standard HTML codes.

See also:

Guidelines for accessibility  Guidelines for developing a Web presence Web server policy