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Requirements

The following section lists requirements for all academic, research, outreach, student services, authorized student groups and organizations as well as administrative units of The University of Oklahoma Norman Campus funded through or by the Norman Campus that are not legally autonomous. Outside agencies or publishers that create websites or electronic publications for any University unit are also required to abide by these guidelines.

To ensure that all websites representing the University of Oklahoma convey a consistent and accurate message and image, any new sites and all sites involved in a redesign must be reviewed by Web Communications, Marketing and New Media prior to go-live. Web Communications, Marketing and New Media will review sites based on the guidelines found in this policy. Audits to check for compliance, consistency and accurate messages are performed on an ongoing basis.

Content Accuracy

OU colleges and departments must review and update content regularly to maintain accuracy.

Review contact and deadline information every semester.
Check all site links at least quarterly; monthly is recommended.
Immediately remove outdated pages and content.
All pages must have a last revised date.

All Web content is expected to use accurate, standardized information on enrollment, research funding, number of faculty, number of buildings, acreage, finances, etc. This information is available from Institutional Research and Public Affairs.

Institutional Research and Reporting: www.ou.edu/provost/ir/
Public Affairs – OU Facts: www.ou.edu/publicaffairs/oufacts.html

Required Page Elements

To ensure a user-focused format, it is important that all of OU Web pages have consistent navigational elements and terminology.

Global Navigation

All OU websites must include the global navigation bar with a link to OU’s home page at the top of every page.

The global navigation bar provides users an easy way to get to navigate selected pages of the OU Website.

Any alterations to the Global Navigation bar must be approved by Web Communications, Marketing and New Media.

Installation Directions for OU Global Header

Step One

Download the zip file containing the OU global header and install it in your parent directory.

Step Two

Place the code snippet below on the line directly BELOW the opening <body> tag.

<div class="globalheader">
    <div class="globalheader-wrapper">
        <ul>
            <li><a class="tip home" href="http://www.ou.edu/web.html" alt="OU Home link"><span>OU Homepage</span></a></li>
            <li><a class="tip search" href="http://www.ou.edu/content/ousearch.html" alt="OU Search link"><span>Search OU</span></a></li>
            <li><a class="tip social" href="http://www.ou.edu/web/socialmediadirectory.html" alt="OU Social Media link"><span>OU Social Media</span></a></li>
            <li class="wordmark">The University of Oklahoma</li>
        </ul>
        <div style="clear:both;"></div>
     </div>
</div>

Step Three

Place the code snippet below on the line directly ABOVE the closing </head> tag.

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="gloabalheader.css" />
<style type="text/css">.globalheader-wrapper { width:980px; }</style>

Step Four

The default width of the header is 980px. If your site's width is something other than that, edit the line below in your header section.

<style type="text/css">.globalheader-wrapper { width:980px; }</style>

Primary and Secondary Navigation

Sites must use consistent internal site navigation, preferably with primary topic navigation on the left hand side of the page. Audience navigation should run horizontally in the top 1/3 of the page.

OU and Department Identity

The OU logo and the words “The University of Oklahoma” (with accompanying ® marks) OR just the OU logo must appear near the top of all Web pages. Any prominent OU logo or words “The University of Oklahoma” must always link back to the main OU home page at http://www.ou.edu/.

Academic or administrative unit and department or division identity and links to those sites must appear on each page as well.

Footer

The following information is required in the footer:

Last updated date with address, phone number and email address for the department.
Links to the accessibility, sustainability, HIPPA, OU job search, policies, legal notices, copyrights.
Optional: links to department social media accounts
Format and design should follow the design seen below (example: go2.ou.edu)

URLs

Typical OU URLs are extensions of the root ou.edu. In general, only URLs ending in “ou.edu” are hosted on university Web servers. Colleges and departments must request an exemption from Web Communications, Marketing and New Media in order to utilize a domain extension other than .edu (.com, .org, etc.). The University also reserves the right to reserve URLs or refuse requests for URL forms deemed inappropriate or likely to be used in the future by departments and administrators (for example, URLs including words like “security” or “emergency”).