Web Page Specifications

This document provides Web designers at Seminole State College with specifications to assist them in the creative task of developing Web pages. Web page design and implementation has become a part of many employees' job descriptions. With these specifications, we aspire to create a Web space that presents Seminole State information in an informative, consistent and easy-to-navigate manner. In no way are these specifications meant to limit the creative freedom of our faculty, staff or students.

Copyright and Trademarks

1.1Seminole State College retains all rights to its name and registered marks.
1.2Use of Seminole State's registered marks are governed by the College's logo specifications, which are available on the College Relations and Marketing Department's website.
1.3With the permission of the rights holder, the registered marks of donors, sponsors, organizations, training partners or employers with relationships to Seminole State College may be used on Seminole State pages.
1.4Copyright laws apply to electronic publishing/posting as well as to print publishing. Many materials that may be used freely in the classroom or as handouts are prohibited for use on the Internet. Be sure you have permission to publish information before putting it on the Web. (A copyrighted work is any original work of authorship fixed in a tangible form of expression.)

Taking on the Role of Information Provider

2.1When posting information about the College, be sure to keep all information current.
2.2When creating a link from your page to another page, be sure to maintain the links. Do not allow them to become or stay broken.
2.3Make every effort to link to existing information; do not duplicate it on your website. Information pertaining to the Seminole State College Catalog (programs, courses, etc.) should link directly to the online Catalog.

Official Page Specifications

An official page is defined as any page containing Seminole State College information that is externally accessible to the general public. It is the responsibility of the author or maintainer of the Web page to ensure that the page complies with the specifications set for official pages.

3.1Each Web page shall contain an identifier that clearly states that it is an official Seminole State page. The Seminole State logo should be included on every page and should link back to the Seminole State home page. The department/course should also be listed so that visitors know where they are at all times. Remember, visitors may reach your page from a search engine or by typing in the URL. They do not have to access your page through the Seminole State website.
3.2Each page must include navigational links that let the user, if applicable, go back, return to the department's main page or go to the Seminole State home page. Though these required links may seem unnecessary, they are actually quite important. If a user happens onto your page through a search engine or by typing in the URL directly, the browser's "Back" function will be useless for retracing the origin of the site's links.
3.3The use of framesets are not allowed. They are hard to bookmark, search engines have problems indexing them, and they are difficult for users to print.
3.4A footer containing the following information is required on each page:
  • An e-mail address for the page creator or maintainer (must be a Seminole State e-mail account)
  • A link to the Seminole State privacy statement (www.seminolestate.edu/internet_privacy_policy)
  • A copyright statement, such as: "Copyright Seminole State College 2005-21"
  • The statement "A Diverse Learning Community...An Equal Access/Equal Opportunity College" linked to the College equity statement (www.seminolestate.edu/equity-statement)
3.5To ensure a strong and consistent marketing presence and encourage user functionality and usability, all Seminole State College pages will be based on templates provided via the Content Management System (CMS). These templates and their respective colors and images are determined by the College Relations and Marketing Department and Seminole State WebSupport.
3.6To ensure that your pages can be viewed by users with disabilities and/or special needs, you must include image "alt" attributes on all pages.
3.7Every page must have a title tag in the following format:
  • Department/Area Name: Page Title (example: Interior Design: Faculty Directory)

These titles are created automatically based on directory structure by the CMS. 

The page title must be unique, descriptive and accurate. It should contain keywords that reflect the page content, and it should be easy to read. Only the first 65 characters of the title will show in a search listing. Page titles on the Seminole State site should not include "Seminole State College" since it is automatically appended to the end of each title.

3.8

Every page must have meta tags for keywords and description.

The meta description data must be between 25 and 150 characters long, human readable, actionable and rich in keywords.

3.9All pages must be free of spelling and grammatical errors and should conform to the Seminole State Style Guide.
3.10Pages may not contain GIF animations or blinking tags. (They will be removed immediately by WebSupport.) Authors should make every effort to keep image sizes small so that download times are kept to a minimum.
3.11Any pages containing links to outside websites should include the following disclaimer:
"This site contains links to other Internet sites. These links are not endorsements of any products or services in such sites, and no information in such site has been endorsed or approved by this site."
3.12Seminole State College must not be placed in a position of endorsing or "selling" any private enterprise, goods or services. Logos, links, trademarks and advertising for private corporations not officially affiliated with the College are not permitted.

Acceptable use of logos and/or links to private corporations includes the following:
  • Inclusion of a logo and/or link to a company or publisher site (such as Canvas, Prentice Hall, etc.) to search for access codes associated with the e-pack or required textbook for the course, or to facilitate student course downloads.
  • Inclusion of a logo and/or link to a company, publisher or other organization's site in order to accomplish specific learning objectives related to course content. (Such objectives must be clearly stated and relevant to the course material.)
Unacceptable use of logos and/or links to private corporations includes the following:
  • Inclusion of a logo and/or link to a commercial enterprise promoting products (such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.).
  • Inclusion of a logo and/or link to unnecessary sites not directly related to course content, material or objectives.
  • Inclusion of a logo and/or link of personal interest or personal gain to a Seminole State employee.
3.13All Web pages must adhere to the College's Technical Specifications.

Departmental Page Specifications

4.1Each departmental page must meet all Official Page Specifications.
4.2The name of the department, program or course must appear at the top of the page.
4.3An introduction or description of the department must appear on the main page.
4.4A page listing names and contact information for faculty, staff and administrators must be available from the main page.
4.5A course page describing in detail the current courses offered should be available from the departmental page. At a minimum, there must be a link to the official course calendar available via the Registrar's pages.
4.6The following validity statement should appear at the bottom of each departmental home page:

"Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content contained on this site. However, we encourage you to contact the College or specific department to verify that the information you have is current."

Templates, Graphics and Video

7.1Templates will be designed and implemented via the Seminole State CMS. Any requests for template modifications must be submitted through a WebSupport request the service request system.
7.2All graphics must be approved by Publications and WebSupport according to Seminole State College standards.
7.3All video must conform to Seminole State College standards and be approved by Publications and WebSupport before it can be put into production.  Video should be submitted in .mp4.  Any videos containing the spoken work must be closed captioned.

Help with Pages

8.1CTS WebSupport is available to assist in the creation and maintenance of Web pages.
8.2All requests for page updates or site modifications should be made via a WebSupport Request in the service request system.

Contact

Seminole State WebSupport
websupport@seminolestate.edu