Web Guide - Web Policy

The following section lists requirements for all academic, research, outreach, student services, authorized student groups and organizationsas 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 Web sites or electronic publications for any University unit are also required to abide by these guidelines. To ensure that all Web sites representing the University of Oklahoma convey a consistent and accurate message and image, all sites involved in a redesign, must be reviewed by the Office of Web Communications. The Office of Web Communications will review sites based on the guidelines found in this policy. The Office of Web Communications will perform audits to check for compliance, consistency and accurate messages.

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• Immediately remove outdated pages and content.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/OUFacts1.shtml

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

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

The global navigation bar will provide users an easy way to get to the OU home page, apply to OU, view a list of campus links and search the entire OU domain. Two color variations of the global navigation, one standard crimson and the other neutral grey, provide flexibility.

Departments that span all three campuses, such as Human Resources or Purchasing will include links to our Tulsa and Health Sciences Center home pages as well.

Any alterations to the Global Navigation bar must be approved by the Office of Web Communications.

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.

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.

The following information is required in the footer:

• Last updated date with contact information for the Web developer or content owner.

• The college or department’s full contact information and/or a link to the following: Unit phone number, e-mail address and physical address.

• Links to the accessibility, terms of use, copyright and equal opportunity statements as well as the privacy policy.

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 the Office of Web Communications 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”).