Web Steering Committee - Highline Community College

Public Web Standards

(Revised April 7, 2006)

These standards apply to the public web presence. Similar standards apply to Direct Instruction (class and course pages) and Intranet web presences (see definitions), though there are also important differences.

By using the appropriate template developed to produce a uniform look and feel in the public Highline web presence, many of the following standards are accommodated. If you choose to build a separate web interface, pages must meet these standards. Please pay close attention to the requirements and procedures.

General Requirements

To assure the accuracy of information, do not duplicate any information found on existing Highline Community College websites, instead link to the source.

If you cannot find information you think should be on an existing web, contact the site web author or the college web coordinator for assistance.
If you create new content for an existing web, email the campus community with a brief synopsis and a link to the page.
If you think your department is the authoritative source, contact your department coordinator and the web coordinator for assistance.

To meet requirements for users with disabilities, be sure your site achieves Level 1 Compliance when validated at http://www.contentquality.com/
Assure colorblind users can see all necessary functions regardless of colors used. To determine this go to http://www.vischeck.com.
Content which requires plug-ins (video, sound, FLASH) must not automatically load for site visitors.
Web pages are visible and usable at screen resolution of 800 x 600.
Pages should view similarly, and work effectively, on the following computer/browser combinations:

Macintosh: Firefox 1.0 or higher
Macintosh: Safari 1.0 or higher
Windows: Mozilla 1.5, Firefox 1.0 or higher
Windows: Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher
Site still readable in text based or older browsers

Have a "contact us" page. (See instructions)
If you move, completely remove or rename a page in your website, create a redirect, or forwarding, page. (Please contact staff in Instructional Design or the college Web Coordinator webmaster@highline.edu for assistance.)
Pages must be complete before being posted. If a page has an "under-construction" sign, leave it on the development site.
Be sure a maintenance plan is in place that includes who is responsible for, and frequency of, content review and testing of links.
Prior to publishing, go through the "pre-posting" checklist.

Components Required on Each Page

DTD (Document Type Definition) Example:
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
Appropriate HTML title tag will include the words Highline Community College. Example:
<title> Highline Community College Registration Department </title> or
<title>Registration Department-Highline Community College</title>
Invisible "Skip navigation" link. (See instructions.)
College logo
- Chosen from those available in the approved logo gallery
- Size meets 1 to 5 proportion in relation to interface. Example: For 700 pixel wide interface, logo would be 140 pixels wide.
- Placed in upper left hand corner of page design
- Linked to home page of college website http://www.highline.edu
- Link does not generate a new browser window
Name of department/unit/organization
Page last updated code placed on page, not in an include file or shared border (See instructions.)
Footer includes
- "Back to Top" code
- Link to website home page
- College logo inked to home page of college website http://www.highline.edu; link does not generate a new browser window
- College address with link to directions and campus map http://www.highline.edu/home/maps/
- The following declaration customized for your website:
  This web site was developed for and is being maintained by the xxxx department. If you have questions or concerns about the content, please contact us (linked to "contact us" page).
  
  To contact the Highline Community College Web Coordinator please email: webmaster@highline.edu
  
  Privacy Policy (http://www.highline.edu/home/policy/privacy.htm ) and Public Disclosure (http://www.highline.edu/home/policy/disclosure.htm)
Colors used in the web interface will be chosen from the available pallete.
Fonts to use: Trebuchet MS for sans serif and Palatino for serif.

Requirements When Components are Used

Copyright
If you use material in your website created by another person, be sure to follow copyright laws http://flightline.highline.edu/copyright/ . Linking to content on another website, vs. incorporating the content on your site, avoids potential conflict.
Images (This applies to all image types; gif and jpg are the most common. See How to use "alt" for guidance.)

Images are optimized for the web using a graphics editing program.
Suggested maximum size: 25 K (Page with all images and HTML code should not be more that 50 K total.)

Describe the image using the "alt" attribute:
Example: alt="Highline Community College Logo"

Where an image is used as a link, "alt" should describe the link destination
Example: alt="Link to Highline Community College home page"

Exception to the "alt" attribute:
If an image is used as a place holder or other non-content applicable use, leave the alt attribute empty or use "*".
Example: alt="" or alt="*"

Height and width explicitly set:
Example: height="80" width="200"
Pop Up Windows

From a usability and accessibility perspective, try to avoid creating links that generate new browser windows or pop ups. In situations where it would be useful for a user to have two browser windows open at the same time, you can use this online tool to generate the pop up code.

Photo Releases

If you use photos of identifiable people on your website, you must have permission. Use a photo release and keep completed releases in an appropriate place your department office. Contact Communications & Marketing for a copy of the form. Note: Release of information on this form is subject to FERPA rules.

Use of Plug-ins

If site components require plug-ins (like Flash) to view site content, an alternative must be provided for those who do not have the plug-in. Include descriptive "alt" text in the link. Plug-ins must be available on both Mac and PC.

Use of PDF Files

Limit use of PDF files as much as possible. When you do use PDFs, include the following information:

a link to the file

file size e.g. 2 page PDF, 1098K

and "Get Acrobat" link http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Note: Personal page space is provided as a training resource for faculty and staff to learn basic web skills and to experiment with new techniques. Personal pages are not subject to college web development standards.

These standards were approved by the Campus Web Committee April 7, 2006.