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Last Updated: 08.16.2006
Pages are maintained by: Assessment and Planning
Web Master:
jpardo@mail.ucf.edu

Introduction
The Internet is increasingly becoming the primary way the university community and general public gathers information and performs research. Due to the increased usage of the university Web sites by prospective and current students alike, Student Development and Enrollment Services (SDES) has found it necessary to manage how its units and departments utilize their Web sites. Recognizing that Web pages are powerful marketing tools and first impressions are important, the following SDES Web Policy was developed to insure that SDES' official Web pages present an attractive, coherent and informative view of SDES and the University of Central Florida. These policies were developed by the SDES Web Committee which is made up of representatives from each SDES unit. The policies were reviewed and approved by UCF Marketing, UCF Web CT and SDES Direct Reports

I. Policy - Required for Linkage to SDES:

1. Pages must comply with UCF Web usage policies (http://reach.ucf.edu/~wdr/standards.html) and UCF Marketing, "The ABCs of UCF," available at UCF Marketing, MH 338.

2. Web pages will be designed to allow easy navigation.

3. Do not use any feature or "programming trick" that interferes or obscures the informational and navigational capabilities provided by the browser's normal interface.

4. Placement of advertising banners, logos, or commercial links* on UCF Web sites is strictly prohibited.
*If a commercial link is necessary to be placed on your site due to limited choices (example: bed sheets for on-campus housing are not standard sizes), an exclaimer must be added, "You are now leaving UCF Web site. UCF is not responsible for content of an external source."

5. Pages must convey positive image of UCF and SDES from marketing standpoint and be identifiably similar in design and layout, using a consistent color scheme similar to that of www.ucf.edu for visual image. Avoid black backgrounds. Templates and/or examples are available at: http://sdes.ucf.edu./assess/webtools.htm

6. Web pages must communicate information clearly and concisely. This includes but not exclusively to correct spelling and grammar.

7. Pages must include graphic links to www.ucf.edu (Pegasus) and sdes.ucf.edu (SDES Home and the Creed button).

8. Graphic and page file names should not contain spaces. Always use an underscore or some other character as opposed to using a space. UCF will not link to any pages, which have a space in the file name.
(Acceptable: Links_Page.html, Not Acceptable: Links Page.html)

9. Content pages of sites must include accurate authorship attribution, contact information (see best practice #10) and last date of modification.

10. Web sites must have either a contact information page or contact information on all pages, which include the department name, mailing address, phone number, fax number and location on campus.

11. All external content should be current. Offices are responsible for ensuring that pages externally linked reflect UCF accurately and favorably.

12. All sites must be compliant with the US Workforce Investment Act, Section 508, these regulations can be found at www.section508.gov.

13. Web pages and "My Organization" must be reviewed periodically to insure that information presented is timely and accurate. (See Best Practices 11 and 12.)

14. All departments and offices will designate a full time staff member (not a student assistant) as their Web site manager. The Web site manager will maintain the site security and will be the contact person regarding all aspects of the department or office's Web site (does not have to be the person who maintains the Web site, who may be a student).

15. SDES Web Committee supports Dreamweaver and Front Page applications. The use of other software applications is discouraged and should only be used after consultation with the SDES Web Committee.

II. Best Practices:

1. Links to sites that are "under construction" should not be available until after the section under construction contains significant content. Links may not lead to pages stating that a section is under construction.

2. Home page should consist of one page containing links to other pages; do not put all your information on one page.

3. When creating meta tags for use with search engines, be sure they accurately describe content on your web page. Keep descriptive words limited to the content of your site and the services your department provides on-line. Information about meta tags can be found at http://www.ucf.edu:8200/help/meta.html

4. Pages, with graphic elements, should include attributes to facilitate faster text downloading, and tags (height, width, alt) with meaningful descriptions for each visible image.

5. The entry page (index.htm, home.htm etc.) that is the first page to be viewed by a visitor should be under 70kb in total file size. This includes graphics and all images that load with the page, including those in an image loading script that are required to pre-load before displaying. Large file sizes require longer to download and Internet studies show a user will only wait an average of 8-10 seconds for a page to download.

6. Web pages by default are non-static. Often they are redesigned or reconfigured for aesthetic as well as technical reasons. However, the basic link information should not change as often. To insure that important links are not broken from the main UCF and SDES sites, main URLs should never be changed.

7. The Web has a standard 216-color palette. It is advisable to use only these colors to ensure your site a consistent look from one computer to the next.

8. Use of animations should be selective. Animated images should not distract a viewer from the content of your site.

9. When creating an e-mail address link (such as the Webmaster), use the e-mail address, not the person's name. This is to facilitate users who may not have an e-mail client configured with their Internet browser. (Acceptable: jd12345@mail.ucf.edu, Not Acceptable: Joan Doe)

10. Web pages and "My Organization" which contains information about your upcoming events, staff, contact information, organization description, services, news and events, should be reviewed once a week to ensure that they are as current as possible. When reviewing your Web site, you should ensure that the graphics are properly loading, all links are correct and that proper grammar is used.

11. SDES departments should utilize the Announcements and Events section of "My Organization." The advantage to input information in these two areas are: info automatically is placed on the main "UCF Events and Announcements" giving a broad exposure to the happening and Course Development and Web Services picks this information up and sends out a mass e-mail to the targeted audiences.

12. All information should not be entered on the home page, use links to other pages.

9.9.2002