From roth@umbc.eduThu Dec 7 01:39:31 1995 Date: Wed, 6 Dec 1995 18:51:15 -0500 From: Tom Roth To: gmitchel@umbc.edu, BURKE@umbc2.umbc.edu, Bill@umbc.edu, jack@umbc.edu, marie@umbc7.umbc.edu, Art_Johnson@umbc.edu, Wilt@umbc.edu, flee@umbc7.umbc.edu Subject: FYI: U. Minnesota WWW Publishing guidelines University of Minnesota WWW Publishing Guidelines Design, style, and other considerations Required Department and personal page publishers are responsible for their own web pages. This includes avoiding copyright violations, complying with local, state, and federal laws and other University policies, and keeping the information up to date. Because web visitors can enter a page directly, without going through a department home page or the University of Minnesota home page, it is important to let them know where they are. Include the wordmark on unit home pages and electronic publications; on all other web pages, make sure the user can tell where the page comes from (that is, unit name and University of Minnesota campus name) by including that information on the page or by linking back to a campus home page. Include the following on each official department home page: 1.wordmark 2.name of the unit publishing the page 3.page or publication title, if appropriate 4.University of Minnesota EEO statement: The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. 5.copyright statement 6.name and/or e-mail address of maintainer who is responsible for the page 7.date of the last update 8.page URL The following elements must be present on all faculty, staff, and student personal home pages: 1.name and e-mail address of the page owner 2.date of the last update 3.page URL 4.disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota. When writing your copy, follow the University of Minnesota Style Manual. Include the EEO statement on unit home pages and on electronic publications pages. Include the date the material was updated at the bottom of anything you publish. Units will determine when it is useful for individual faculty, staff, or students to have personal home pages for University business. Units will determine whether it is appropriate for individuals to be linked from their department's home page. Unit heads are responsible for deciding whether or not to link to personal home pages. Personal home pages may not contain the University or campus wordmarks or other symbols of the University or campus. Copyright laws apply to electronic publishing as well as to print publishing. Be sure you have permission to publish the information, graphics, or photographs on your pages if you are not the author or creator. Photographs of an individual or personal information about an individual must not be included without the permission of the individual. Recommended Web pages should be well designed and written. The appearance and content are as important as the technical aspects. Get design and writing help if you need it. Call your campus Internet Helpline or campus University Relations office. Design seminars and assistance are available. Keep it simple and keep your audience and your medium in mind. Your pages will not look the same to every viewer for a variety of reasons: 1.Viewers will have a variety of hardware and software. 2.At least half the people browsing the web have monitors with 16 or fewer colors. 3.Some people choose not to download graphics. Don't overload with graphics that will slow the page down and frustrate the users. Consider having a text-only shadow page or clickable icons for pictures. The more complex you make your graphics, the longer it will take for pages to load. You may want to connect at a slow speed (2400 baud) and test to see how long it takes. Graphics with primary colors may work better than graphics with subtle colors. When you include graphics, make sure you have alternatives or ALTS (words that replace the graphics) for people who do not download graphics. Test it that way by turning off the graphics. Because pages load from the top down, don't design your pages with large graphics files or all your graphics at the top. Consider the time it takes for viewers to see them. Many students have design, WWW, and technology know-how; you may want to advertise for a student worker to help. Or call University Relations for names of designers who specialize in multimedia or web page design. Browse the web to see what works and what doesn't. Consider how to organize your information, where you want it to be linked, and how to point people to it. Library and information services people can be a good resource. Most web users don't want static information; they want to communicate and navigate through it. Personal home pages should be constructed so that they are not wasteful of University resources for frivolous purposes. Limit use of disk storage for text, graphics, photos, and other information to limits suggested by the service provider. Developers are strongly encouraged to use styles and colors that are easy to read and accessible to as wide an audience as possible. Complicated background patterns and dark background colors can be difficult to read. Some combinations of text and background colors can be completely unreadable by people with color blindness. Students should notify the service provider when they graduate, leave school, or no longer need their information published on the internet. Thomas F. Roth, PhD email roth@umbc.edu Professor of Biological Sciences, and Phone (410) 455-2254 Bio Office Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs (410) 455-6325 Provost's Office University of Maryland (UMBC) (410) 455-2246 Laboratory Baltimore, MD 21228 USA (410) 455-3875 FAX The University of Maryland Baltimore County is a medium sized research university, with special emphasis on science, technology, and public policy at the graduate level.