Web Publishing Policy
The University has adopted a Web Publishing Policy for all web pages hosted locally or by third-party services that represent the University of Southern Indiana.
The Web Publishing Policy is the standard for page and site development at USI. The purpose of the policy is to:
- Reinforce USI's identity
- Provide continuity in web site appearance
- Faithfully and consistently represent USI to the public
- Create a professional and unified USI web presence
Web Services staff created a standard set of Content Management System (CMS) templates to facilitate a consistent design for page development. These templates meet USI branding requirements and give the University website a unified and consistent browsing experience for our audience.
All University URLs should be simplified when possible. Spelling of names should not be simplified (example admission, not admissn). Acronyms may be used in special circumstances when a department name is long and/or the shortened version makes sense to users (example “hr”, rather than humanresources).
All written content must follow the USI Editor’s Manual and USI Style Guide. When writing content for the web, remember users usually like short paragraphs, and direct or bulleted information. Information beyond this can be linked to a longer page of content.
With the use of web Templates, links to crucial content areas are always maintained and consistently in the same place. The header consists of the USI logo that links to the University homepage, with text links to myUSI, the sitemap, people directory, and a contact link. The footer links to USI social media sources, about us, employment, visit information, emergency information, and an additional contact link. The University address and phone number are also listed. The USI website utilizes Google for searching and other web services. A Google search bar is prominently placed on all headers.
The University logo is the official identifier and must be used within the guidelines set for web use. Web templates created by Web Services meet all criteria for use and correct branding of the USI logo.
Web Accessibility
USI is committed to providing access to all users of its online content. Web editors must ensure their pages are ADA compliant and follow guidelines set forth by the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative.
It is strongly discouraged to directly list email addresses in page content or linking names to email addresses using standard HTML methods. Spammers routinely search our website collected unprotected email addresses to send spam to. Web Services developed a contact form to circumvent this issue. It is utilized within our template and built into our CMS content tools.
The University publishes all video on its YouTube Channel. This allows editors to easily embed video on web pages and to share with others.
The University has central accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. Other departments may create their own social media accounts as long as certain guidelines are maintained.