Compliance
- All official UA web resources must align with the University’s digital visual identity standards.
- All University of Alabama websites must be accessible and adhere to WCAG 2.1 standards.
- The University of Alabama is committed to providing a web presence accessible to all users. All UA resources must comply with the Web Resources Accessibility Policy.
Best Practices
Keep screen sizes in mind
Not everyone viewing our websites will use a computer. Be mindful that many (if not a majority) of our visitors will visit using a phone or tablet.
Content Standards/Copywriting
OTIDE marketing department will either write or proof all content. Exceptions will be minor edits to content, such as time changes, speaker changes for a conference, course number or name changes, etc.
Timeliness and Content Life Cycles
Up-to-date content or periodic content refreshes are strongly encouraged. As a result, it encourages return visits from users and improves the website’s overall effectiveness. Deserted websites or inaccurate information may be deemed damaging to the reputation of the University and subject to a review process per the University’s Web Policy.
Headings and Content
- You can only use one Header 1 (H1), and it’s typically already set as the title of the page.
- Break information into subheads.
- The AD digital marketing, internet communication specialist, or content editors can help explain the appropriate usage of subheads.
- Keep paragraphs short (no longer than four lines is the preference).
Buttons and Links
- Refrain from “click here”, “learn more” or vague language as the button text or call to action. Links are best phrased as a sentence, such as “Learn more about the UA Web Policy.”
- Links clicking to an outside website should open in a new tab.
Images
- Make sure images are optimized for the web.
- Hero/header images are best when taken wide and zoomed out from the subject.
- The ideal size for a full-screen hero image is 1,200 pixels wide with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
- For a banner/hero/header image, the ideal size is 1600 x 500 pixels.
- If using Photoshop to edit, make sure to save it for the web. This helps reduce the file size so that it will open faster for visitors, especially those with slow connections.
- Add alt text to all images. The alt text should reflect what’s in the image, even if it’s a logo.
PDFs
- PDFs that are mostly text should be converted to a web page.
- Adding PDF content as a webpage eliminates the need to make a PDF accessible (the webpage version will be much easier to remediate) and is MUCH easier for the end user to access.
