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DRAFT Utah Valley University Web Style Guide

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Requirements identified in images below. Click image to view an enlarged version.

Other requirements:

• Overall
  • All institutional pages must use the approved CMS and templates within
  • All institutional pages must follow the style guide
  • Do not use copyrighted material unless you have written notification from the copyright holder
  • All HTML code must pass validation (error pass required, not warning pass) at http://validator.w3.org/
  • All pages must pass 508 validation (error pass required, not warning pass) at http://webxact.watchfire.com (note: validator of choice may change based on input from tech committee)
• Color
  • Use colors found on the UVU Color Palette (accent colors should be used sparingly)
• Text
  • Always use web-safe fonts (Arial, Sans-serif, Verdana, Times New Roman, Courier, Courier New, Impact)
  • Use text colors that are in high contrast to background
  • Do not use italic, except for within APA guideline standards, as they are not as legible on the Web
  • Do not underline text unless it is a link
  • Use relative font sizes between xx-small and xx-large
• Links
  • Use underline for links (either on hover or as default active/not-visited)
  • Ensure words that are linked are descriptive for search engine optimization
• Images
  • Do not use image maps
  • If you put text on top of an image make sure it remains legible
  • Make images 72 dpi (maximum quality on the Web)
  • Ensure images are sized exactly as it will be displayed on the page
  • Use jpg (pictures), gif (graphics), or png (with script for IE6 operability) formats
• Multimedia:
  • Video and audio clips must have an accessibility alternative, and should facilitate easy searching
  • All Javascript must be accessible or have an accessibility alternative
    

Other recommendations:

• Overall
  • Navigation & layout should be focused on user ( users don't usually care about organizational structure)
  • Subtitles in the main header should be links
• Body
  • Use spaces between paragraphs
  • Generally limit the number of text colors to 3 or less
  • Generally, text should be left justified or full
  • Generally, avoide putting all content in one long scrolling page
• Links
  • Generally, use the CSS default
• Images
  • Use clipart sparingly
  • Use images that appeal to your target audience (age, gender, style, color, etc)
  • Use people when possible
  • Use animated gifs sparingly
• Multimedia
  • Use Flash sparingly and code for easy search when used