Standards for official UMaine websites

The standards included in this document are intended to promote a consistent interface for those accessing information about the University of Maine via the web. The document is not meant to impede the creativity of University of Maine information providers or address HTML authoring in detail.

Overview

Utilizing a University of Maine has two primary goals. The first is to present an informative and attractive site to prospective students via our approved template, which you see on this page. The second is to provide accurate information to the campus community. Each document on the University of Maine website is considered part of the university’s public presentation, and therefore should be edited with the same care and diligence one would apply to a printed publication. Each page linked to the University of Maine’s website must be accessible, contain accurate information, follow a clear and cohesive style, and be appropriate for the university. University website administrators are responsible for the content of the pages they publish and are expected to abide by the highest standards of quality and responsibility.

Requirements

Publishing on the web should be taken as seriously as publishing in print. Therefore, please follow the checklist below when designing your website.

Website accessibility

It is important to provide your information in a way that is accessible to the largest audience possible. To assist you in attaining this goal, we have developed guidelines and recommendations, and have provided information and examples of what’s required for you to develop an accessible website. These guidelines follow closely those proposed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in their Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), and the standards the government has adopted for federal websites as Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments. Information on the W3C WAI guidelines is available at: www.w3.org/WAI. The full Section 508 text, including comments and interpretations can be found at: access-board.gov/508.htm. We hope you will embrace these guidelines to help achieve improved web usability for everyone. UMaine website accessibility information

Include contact information (name, address, phone and email)

Please provide a way for curious users to contact your department for further information. Parents, students and other interested individuals want ready access to the people behind your website.

Revision dates

If your pages are out-of-date, people will not trust the information on them. Revise your pages regularly and, if you wish to display revision dates on your pages, contact Digital Communications to enable this feature for your site.

Current, accurate information

Please keep an eye on your information and keep it current. Some data changes more frequently than others. If you do not have the time to keep information on your site current, you may want to look at other methods of providing that information. In these cases, it is doubly important that you indicate a contact address for further information.

Correct usage of university name

The official forms of the university’s name are: The University of Maine and UMaine. Please do not use any other abbreviation or arrangement. UMO is an example of an unacceptable abbreviation. Also, when referring to the University of Maine simply as “the university,” the word “university” should be lowercased.
UMaine’s editorial style standards

Correct spelling and grammar

As with any publication, check for spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. If one is pointed out to you, please fix it. Spelling errors hurt credibility almost as much as inaccurate information.

Links to official pages and site navigation

From your department’s top-level web page, include a link to the university’s top page, located at umaine.edu (this is automatically included in the UMaine web template). If appropriate, make a link back to your college’s home page, as well. On subsequent pages of your department, include links to your department’s top-level page. This enhances your users’ ability to get from one area to another on your site.

Definition of advertising related to the web

Advertising includes the use of a corporate symbol and/or tagline or product graphic with a hyperlink to that entity.

Definition of sponsorship related to the web

Sponsorship is defined as the use of the corporate symbol with no hyperlink but with limited text that identifies the company or entity as a sponsor.

UMaine advertising/sponsorship acceptance policy

Various University of Maine publications and projects are approved for the solicitation of advertising and sponsorship support. The UMaine will not accept advertising for alcohol, tobacco or political campaigns. Acceptance of all other advertising is left to the discretion of the administration of the institution. Allow at least one week for review.

UMaine web advertising/sponsorship policy

The criteria for soliciting external funding in exchange for space on a UMaine web page is as follows: Only departments with an existing and approved advertising/sponsorship program may extend it to the web. Commercial banner advertising on UMaine authorized web pages must not occupy more space than 468 x 60 pixels total or be broken down into more than four different ads per page.