Technical Standards / Design Standards and Conventions / OU Home Page Guidelines / Guidelines for All OU Web Pages / Advertising Guidelines

Technical Standards
	•	Web servers will feature a combination of the following software:
			•	Operating Systems - Microsoft NT or IIS 5 on Windows 2000, Linux Unix
			•	Web site Server Software - Internet Information Server for NT, Apache for Linux
			•	Database Engines - Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL, MySql
			•	Database Interface Software - ASP, ColdFusion
	•	Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator 4.0 and beyond are the supported browsers. Every effort also must be made to be as backwardly compatible as possible to support text-only browsers.
	•	Pages must render the same in all browsers.
	•	As a rule, Web sites developed after 10/25/01 should not be developed to resize.
	•	No MS or Netscape proprietary markups/code can be used as it relates to the delivery of critical content.
	•	Sites must function in the most popular and most recent version of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer (As of 10/25/01: IE 5.x and 6.x and Netscape 4.x and 6.x).
	•	Windows Media Player or RealPlayer will be used for all audio and video files.
	•	Web sites should be developed for 800 x 600 size.
	•	Macromedia Dreamweaver is the Web authoring tool of choice, but other authoring tools also may be supported.
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Design Standards and Conventions
	•	HTML 4.0 is the standard.
	•	Site page titles must contain the words "Oakland University" to distinguish the page as part of the Oakland University Web site.
	•	Each page must have a descriptive <TITLE> tag so if the page is bookmarked or viewed in the browser's history, the name displayed is meaningful to the user.
	•	Frame-based sites are not the standard and are discouraged because they cause navigational, bookmarking and printing issues. However, they may be used in certain approved areas or where they are a required element of the design.
	•	Every effort should be made to optimize site download speeds so each page of the site downloads in 10 seconds or less from a 28.8 modem. This suggests a total Web page size including HTML code and images of 35 KB or less.
	•	Whenever a link is made to an atypical type of file (pdf, doc, real) that requires a special reader, the file type and required reader should be specified.
	•	Each subsite will be contained in a unique directory name after the subsite. For example, if there is an "About OU" link off the home page, then there will be a directory called "AboutOU" in which all files for the About OU site are located.
	•	Each site must be registered with the OU search engine upon completion and must have the proper tags inserted for search engine robots.
	•	All files placed on the Web server must have lowercase names and should not contain spaces or special characters and should be made as short as is practical to reduce overall length of the URL.
	•	All hypertext files must have an .htm extension and not .html. This is for naming consistency.
	•	The file name of the home page subsection will be default.asp or default.htm.
	•	Every .asp page must have the following header: <%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT"%>
	•	No visible reference is to be made to development houses or contracted developers outside of Oakland University.
Fonts
	•	Web sites should use Arial, Verdana or Helvetica fonts.
	•	Relative size of fonts for body is 1 or 2. Relative size for headers is 4.
	•	Font colors are as follows:
			Maroon: R:131, G:9, B:49 (text links) Blue: R:0, G:80, B:127 Gold: R:176, G:143, B:55
Colors
	•	Web safe colors should be used whenever possible.
	•	Within any given subsite, the background color must be consistent.
	•	The text must be black and the combination of the text on the background must be easily readable.
	•	If using a background graphic rather than a background color, the text must be easy to read over the background graphic.
	•	Black backgrounds, except in special cases, are discouraged. If using a black background, all text and links should be colored in light, Web-safe colors.
	•	Text links in most sites should be maroon, bold and not underlined. Some pages may function better for users with the default links. Default links should be used in limited cases.
	•	When using graphics relating to the OU identity, use the following HEX colors:
			OU GOLD=B08F37 OU BLACK=000000 OU WHITE=FFFFFF
Images
	•	Images should be optimized using graphic processing optimization techniques or tools like Adobe Image Ready. The file size of all images on home page and site pages should be limited to 25 K. Line art should be saved as .gif files. Photos or complex art should be saved as .jpg files. If in doubt, save in both formats and pick the smallest file with reasonable quality image. Background graphics should be optimized in the same manner.
	•	Images larger than 20 K should use a thumbnail image with a link to the larger image and a notice of the size in KB of the larger image
	•	Width and height tags should be provided for all graphics.
	•	The alt attribute of the IMG tag should be used to provide text descriptions for all graphics to ensure disability and text-only browser compliance and for those who choose not to download images.
	•	Each subsite will have an images directory. All images for each subsite will be placed in this folder.
	•	When using tables with a border, include a 5 pixel cell pad to ensure text does not run into the column.
	•	Use of animated gifs or sound files should be limited. Use of these files increases download time. Research shows that the number one reason visitors leave a site is because of downloads that take too long. Use of these files must be approved by the Communications and Marketing Department.
Scripts
	•	Supported script types are VBScript and JavaScript. Active Server Pages (.asp), ColdFusion templates (.cfm) and CGI's also are supported on servers where that technology is available.
Forms
	•	When designing forms, create a two-column table with the labels left-justified in the left-hand column and the form objects left-justified in the right-hand column.
	•	If there is a maximum number of characters that a user is allowed to enter, set the size and maxlength attributes of the textbox to this maximum number of characters.
	•	When offering a user multiple choices, use radio buttons when only one choice is valid. Use checkboxes when more than one choice can be made.
	•	Any required fields must be visually indicated.
	•	Required fields must be validated. If a required field is blank or invalid, the form must be reposted to the user with all his/her data filled in, and the invalid area must be highlighted with specific information about what is invalid.
	•	All forms must have a submit or print button and a reset button.
	•	After a form is submitted, the user must be redirected to a confirmation page, which will summarize the entry.
	•	Forms that require confidential information (social security number, student number, credit card information) cannot be submitted. They must be printed and mailed until OU has a secure server.
Pop-Up Boxes
	•	Use of pop-up boxes should be limited to providing small amounts of information.
	•	When used, a toolbar should appear in the top of the window so users can print that page easily.
	•	All links that are contained inside a pop-up box should be linked in one of two ways. If the link goes to an external site (outside of Oakland University), the requested page needs to be in its own window and the OU navigation is not to be included in the window. If the link goes to an internal Oakland University site, the requested page should contain OU's top navigation (whether in the top frame or contained on the page itself) and should load in the current pop-up window.
	•	When closing a pop-up window, the current page should return to the last location prior to linking to the pop-up window.
Use of OU Logo
	•	The OU logo should not be used more than once per Web page. It should be used as a whole image. It must appear on a white background.
	•	The proportion may not be adjusted. Elements cannot be used as graphic or design pieces. It may not be screened back as a design element.
	•	Type may not be placed over the logo or any portion of it.
	•	When used on a page, clicking on the logo must take users back to OU's home page.
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	•	The Oakland University sail logo
	•	The university's main address and phone number
	•	A search button
	•	A button that will link visitors to the Intranet side of the site
	•	Copyright notice
	•	A link to the privacy statement. The privacy statement should detail what is being done with the information collected on the site both through forms and normal log files.
	•	A link to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act
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Guidelines For All OU Web Pages
	•	All pages housed on OU's Web site must abide by federal copyright laws and university policies. Personal Web pages are acceptable, but the content for student pages must be consistent with the Student Code of Conduct outlined in the Student Handbook. Content for faculty and staff pages must be consistent with university policies and procedures.
	•	Only pages authored by students, faculty and staff of the university and about university-related programs will be housed on the university network.
	•	The university recognizes the difference between official and unofficial pages. Official pages represent the university and its programs. Personal pages of students, faculty and staff should not give the impression they are representing, giving opinions or otherwise making statements on behalf of the university. Pages by students, faculty and staff are considered personal, unofficial pages. Unofficial pages should carry the following disclaimer:
			"The views and opinions expressed on this page are those of the page developer and not necessarily those of Oakland University. Any comments on the content of this page should be directed to its developer."
	•	All unofficial pages must identify its author/administrator, who must provide an e-mail link for correspondence. The author/administrator is responsible for any communication the page may generate.
	•	After a new site launches, the owner/developer of the old site is responsible for ensuring the old site is deleted from the server so visitors do not accidentally visit the out-of-date site.
	•	Web pages supported by the university network may not be used for illegal or non-university commercial purposes.
	•	The university reserves the right to remove pages that violate the guidelines or violate the acceptable use of policies as defined.
	•	The university reserves the right to remove pages that are out of date, contain an excessive number of invalid links or deny service to others due to their popularity or content.
Navigation
	•	All official Oakland University sites should include a consistent menu bar along the top of the page that leads back to the main areas of the OU Web site. This should be done with a common, shared graphic or, in cases where this is not technically feasible, a top frame. This helps establish consistency in navigating through the university's entire site and allows visitors to access any page within the site by using no more than two clicks of the mouse.
	•	For consistency of navigation throughout the Oakland University site, sites should create a left-hand navigation specific to the site. This left-hand navigation should appear on each page within the site. At the bottom of this navigation, contact information for the particular site should be included that gives the name, mailing address, phone number, fax and e-mail address for the specific site.
	•	Use of rollovers is encouraged for page navigation, but not in content.
	•	We encourage rollover effects with left-hand navigation. These rollover effects must be verified that they work once published to the live site.

Oakland University Identity
	•	Visitors to the site should always be aware that they are within Oakland University's Web site no matter which page they are on and no matter where they enter the site. Each page of Oakland University's Web site will identify that it is part of the university's overall Web site by the words "Oakland University" in the upper right-hand corner of the top navigation bar on each page.
	•	Use of images relating to the OU graphic identity must be compliant with the Graphic Identity Program.
	•	When the OU logo appears on a Web page, visitors should be able to click on it to go to the OU home page.

Copyright and Privacy A standard footer must appear at the bottom of every second-level page and should include the following information:
	•	Copyright notice, which will come from an included file library.
	•	A privacy statement link. The privacy statement should detail what is being done with the information collected on the site both through forms and normal log files.
	•	Digital Millenium Copyright Act
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