Cooperative Extension Service
Departments
Administration
Web Policy and Guidelines
Standards
Consistent Navigation Scheme
All University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service (U A C E S) webs will have a consistent navigation scheme. The main links will be located on the left side of the page. Links to the search, publications, jobs, faculty and staff directory, calendar and
other links will appear together near the bottom of the page. At the very bottom of each page will be a link to our mission statement, disclaimers, e e o, privacy statement, and F O I information along with the date the page was last modified and a link to contact the webmaster.
This will help our visitors navigate quickly and efficiently throughout our web sites.
Consistent Branding
All University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service (U A C E S) webs will have a consistent branding throughout the web by use of the official Division of Agriculture logo located at the top left hand corner of the page.
Physical Size
Pages should be no wider than 760 pixels to fit within a viewable area of an
800 x 600 screen. Each page will be use liquid design so that when a person
reduces or enlarges their screen size the page will flow with the size of the
window. Scrolling up and down will be limited as much as possible. Pages
requiring scrolling up and down will have a back to top option that scrolls down
the page as the user scrolls. Absolutely no scrolling of left to right will be
used unless research data tables cannot be broken down to convey information in
a readable format.
Access Time
To better serve our clientele who are not on high speed internet access, Web Associates will consider the time it takes for viewers to see the pages. Web Associates will test with a connection at a slow speed (56,600 baud) to check how long it takes for pages to load. All pages should strive to be under 25 seconds load time. If over 25 seconds load time try to break the page into additional pages or remove images that are not necessary.
ADA Compliance
Accessibility for all potential users (A D A compliant) must be implemented when designing Web pages. Specific requirements and resources may be found on the
Web Accessibility Standards page.
U A C E S standards for accessibility are based on the Web Accessibility Initiative developed by the
World Wide Web Consortium (W 3 C) and the
State of Arkansas Accessibility Architecture - Web Page Best Practices.
This helps ensure that Web services can be effectively used by people regardless of visual, hearing, physical, or cognitive impairments as well as variations in the technology they are using. To establish conformity with the standards, U A C E S Web pages are tested with the latest version of
JAWS, developed by Freedom Scientific and other appropriate tools.
Term Click On
To further comply with A D A requirements for web accessibility, the term “click on” should not be used on any U A C E S web page or in any U A C E S program. Instead use the term select or choose.
Browser Testing
All pages will be checked in the latest version of both Internet Explorer and Netscape. Pages will be checked on a different machine than the one that they were developed on to insure that the page is being seen as our clientele would see it. This includes different screen sizes as well as PC vs. MAC.
Outdated Material
Only material dated within 30 days of the current date will be posted. This
allows us to better serve our clientele by offering only timely information. If
you have any questions about web submissions, please feel free to contact Donna
Rinke at drinke@uaex.edu.
Only the current year plus one year will be maintained on the web.
Non-Complete Pages
No page can be made live until finished. Partial and under construction pages are not allowed.
References to Information Not Available on the Web
If content indicates references to information not available on the web, that
reference is to be removed. For example "see page 17". If the
reference is available in HTML then the "see" will be removed and a link to that
area will be made.
Commercial Linking
No commercial links will be included on the web site. Government or
educational links are permissible.
Images for Web Pages
Work directly with the Web Development Associates to identify images that are appropriate for the web page content.
If you have any questions on logo standards see the
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Logos Standards of Usage Manual
(PDF). This manual is designed to provide University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture employees with guidelines on the appropriate and acceptable use of the Division of Agriculture logo and name to be used in all Division of Agriculture educational and promotional materials distributed, transmitted, broadcast or delivered on behalf of the Division of Agriculture and its branches and sections.
All requests for new graphics should be submitted to the Web Development Associates. Clipart submitted to the Web Development Associates that will not add to the presentation of the web page will be omitted. Images will be used only if they add to the content and is of a quality sufficient to be seen and understood on the web.
Please submit original images. The Web Associates or Graphic Artists will optimize all images for the web. It is recommended that images be 72 d p i.
Web Associates will consider the time it takes for viewers to see the pages. Web Associates will test with a connection at a slow speed (56,600 baud) to check how long it takes for pages to load. All pages should strive to be under 25 seconds load time. If over 25 seconds load time try to break the page into additional pages or remove images that are not necessary.
The web development associates will review the graphics submitted and consult with Communications Graphic Artists and Designers concerning images which have questionable quality or need further editing.
Text (cutline) explaining the information represented in each content-related image for visually impaired clientele must be submitted at the time the graphic is submitted or the graphic will be unable to be used.
Do not make graphic to be used when straight text can be used. Graphics add
to load time and if the information can be displayed in text format a graphic is
unnecessary.
Use of clipart or images will not be used unless it adds value to the page.
Images add to load time and can keep potential clientele from visiting our site
if it takes too long to load.
Use of Color for Conveying Information
Ensure that information is not conveyed through color alone. For example,
when asking for input from users, do not write "Please select an item from
those listed in green." Instead, ensure that information is available through
other means.
Financial Processing
Use of online credit card transactions from within web-based applications must be approved by the Associate Director for Finance and the Director of Financial Services. Approval must be granted prior to the creation or modification of the application. Any programming for financial processing will be the responsibility of Information Technology.
Forms
All forms must be navigable by use of the tab key in a logical tab order.
All entry fields in forms must have sufficient coding to allow screen readers
to inform the visually impaired user that they are on a entry field and what
information is being requested. To ensure that your forms are ADA compliant
contact Wilma Lewis, 671-2301 wlewis@uaex.edu .
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