Illinois State University Policy Web Site

9.5.2 Procedures for Establishing Essential Elements in University Web Sites with a Public Presence

I. Introduction

A University web site with a public presence is defined as any web site which represent to the public that their web site reflects operational functions, products or services associated with Illinois State University.  Any web site developed by a College, School Department, Division, Unit, or Office or any Academic Program, Center, News Service, Special Public Event site or Registered Student Organization sites is considered to have a public presence.

  • An iGuide (as an include statement that refers to a current iGuide folder). Do Not Use the Illinois State University Seal on any of your Web pages.
  • Contact information, or a link to a Contact page, which includes a: campus address, campus phone/fax number, department/unit e-mail address, and Webmaster’s link so visitors can e-mail him or her with questions if needed.
  • Key search words/phrases included in the homepage’s HTML code so search engines can find your homepage more efficiently.
  • Descriptive page titles. For example: IWSS - Contact Us

Essential for all Web pages:

  • University Web pages must conform to all Illinois State University’s policies, including the Appropriate Use Policy and the University Editorial and Visual Identity Standards.
  • All Web pages must comply with Section 508 U.S. Rehabilitation Act guidelines. See Guidelines for Web Site Accessibility Requirements.  These include, but are not limited to:  site can be navigated using the TAB key only, <ALT> tag descriptions for all images, text equivalents for information that cannot be accessed through a screen reader, etc.
  • The server your Web pages are hosted on must have an uninterruptible power supply.
  • Campus personnel that develop Web sites/pages that need to use student or staff information for transactions must submit their design to the Associate Vice President for Information Technology or the Assistant Vice President for Information Systems for review to ensure that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA), campus network security, and other privacy policies are met prior to developing the site/page.

Suggestions for Web Pages:

  • Consider completing the Communicating Our Identity Exercise if your Web site represents an academic department. This exercise teaches departments how to communicate their identity more effectively on the Web. The impetus for this exercise came from Educating Illinois.
  • Keep all the text on your home page, and other Web pages if possible, “above the scroll,” so visitors won’t have to scroll down to find important information.
  • Use an 800 x 600 screen size when designing Web pages.
  • Repurpose the textual content you put in your Web pages. Web visitors simply do not read Web pages like they do paper documents - this fact has been confirmed by many usability studies. Learn how to write for the Web. Remember to also refer to the Illinois State University Editorial and Visual Identity Standards.
  • Include Points of Pride, authentic student voice quotes, and quality indicators on your department’s pages.
  • Include a welcome from the Chair/Unit Leader or a Mission Statement.
  • Do not use frames, if at all possible.

Last Review: May 2007