INTRODUCTION
The Libraries' Home Page, or first-level page, is intended to provide a single welcome screen with broad category links so that users can quickly navigate to more specific pages. These categories reflect the Libraries' mission. This first-level page sets the design and navigational elements used in most other Library Web pages.
Management
The Web Design and Policy Group, in concert with the Libraries' Web Coordinator, oversees the management of the George A. Smathers Libraries Web site. Appointed by the administration, the Web Design and Policy Group acts as the official advisory board to the Web Coordinator, who works closely with Systems staff. The Web Coordinator maintains the links and HTML coding of the Libraries' home page, some second-level pages, and selected third-level pages. The Library Web site will be archived upon each major change, or at least annually.
The Web Design and Policy Group:
The usefulness of the Libraries' Web Site and the content within depends on the efforts and creativity of individuals throughout the organization. All units and individuals within the Libraries are expected to participate in this effort.
Web page developers are responsible for creating pages that are consistent with the goals of the University of Florida Libraries: to provide support of curricular and research endeavors of the faculty, staff, and students of the university community and the scholarly world. Personal Web pages that represent an individual as a private person are not permitted.
If a Web page developer resigns from employment or changes assignment,
it is the responsibility of that person's supervisor to reassign Web page
maintenance.
Audiences of the Libraries' Web pages include not only the faculty, staff, and students of the University of Florida, but diverse users from across the state, country, and world. These guidelines have been developed in order to achieve consistency and continuity in design and appearance, without stifling staff creativity.
Required elements and actions:
1. Use of any and all images, designs, and text copied from other sources
must adhere to copyright and licensing guidelines. Be sure you have
written permission to use materials if you are not the author or creator.
Link to the "Smathers Libraries' Acceptable Use, Copyright, and Disclaimer"
in the footer. http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/accesspol.html
2. Include a copyright statement in the footer of all pages.
Statement should use the following syntax:
© Copyright, University of
Florida, [YEAR]
3. Comply with the UF Policy for Acceptable Use of Computing Resources http://www.cio.ufl.edu/aupolicy.htm . Required elements from this document include:
5. Include links back to the Smathers Libraries’ top-level page http://web.uflib.ufl.edu and other appropriate intermediate-level pages.
6. Use spell checking software, proofread, and review content for grammatical correctness, currency, and factual accuracy at least once per semester.
7. Indicate restricted access to resources where appropriate.
8. Include the segment tags <HTML>, <HEAD>, <TITLE>, and <BODY>.
9. Include an html <TITLE> field which clearly identifies the document. The information in the <TITLE> becomes the bookmark entry when saved by users. Meaningful information here will make the bookmark more useful. Many web search engines use title words to index documents. Suggested text: <TITLE>UF Smathers Libraries: Art Information Resources </TITLE>
10. Use descriptive headings to introduce your document or sections of your document. Search engines weight the relevance of documents based on words in headings. Use the <META KEYWORDS> tag to define additional keywords if necessary.
11. Images should be supplied with <ALT> tags. Descriptions of images that are given in the <ALT> tags provide useful information about the graphic's content when an end user can't display or view the graphic for whatever reason.
12. Maintain pointer links to any changed URLs for at least three months.
13. Coordinate page development and major revisions with the Web Coordinator
and appropriate departmental Webmaster(s) to ensure that links from top
level pages are accurate, and that superseded information is eliminated
elsewhere.
Recommended elements and actions:
1. Use a version of the common navigation/information sidebar that can be modified to fit the needs of individual pages/sites. Templates are available at http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/web .
2. Minimize scrolling on pages. Use anchors and internal links to facilitate navigation within long documents.
3. Avoid "dead-end" or "under construction" pages that have no current information content and require use of browser back function to go anywhere.
4. Choose images that provide visual information over those serving merely decorative function.
5. If graphics are used, select a file size that will load quickly.
6. Include a warning if a link will lead to a large file, e.g. >100K, or if a special application will be needed to view, e.g. Adobe Acrobat Reader required to read PDFs. Specify software version, and include a link to facilitate downloading of required software.
7. Avoid use of unnecessary animation and
8. Provide visual consistency across related documents.
9. Test pages in multiple browsers.
10. Test download time over modem.
11. Use site analysis software. It is strongly encouraged that pages be analyzed by "Bobby" http://www.cast.org/bobby to determine their level of accessibility to people with disabilities.
12. Become familiar with HTML basics, even if you use a WYSIWYG editor such as MS FrontPage or Netscape Composer. Classes are taught through the Libraries' Staff Development Program and the UF Faculty Support Center for Computing.
13. Seek assistance from other page developers and request feedback from colleagues during development. Test new pages with primary user groups and provide a means for ongoing feedback/suggestions.