Brand guidelines

Websites

All 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø websites must:

  • Use the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø official web banner.
  • Include the name of the unit prominently near the top of the page.
  • Provide contact information for the unit, including address, phone and email.
  • Include required language in the website's footer:
    • UA notice of nondiscrimination:
      The 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer, educational institution and provider and prohibits illegal discrimination against any individual: Learn more about UA's .

    • UA notice of web accessibility:
      UA is committed to providing accessible websites. Learn more about UA’s       .

  • Meet a minimum of accessibility compliance.
    • You can scan your website for errors using a variety of .
    • Review UA's .
    • Content hosted on third-party resources/portals, as well as non-HTML content published on our website such as videos, forms, documents and  should also be accessible.
  • Have internal written protocols for maintenance and ensuring accessibility standards are met. Internal protocols should include:
    • Designated individual (admin) responsible for the account.
    • How to access the website or social media platform if the designated individual is not available.
    • Schedule for updating contact and log-in information.
    • Schedule for accessibility checks (weekly, monthly, quarterly).
    • Process for remediating inaccessible items.
    • Tool(s) used for accessibility assessment (Modern Campus CMS Page Check, WAVE, etc.).
    • Protocol must be shared with University Relations at uaf-web@alaska.edu.

The UA Office of Information Technology uses at 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø and UA Statewide as the official web content management system. Modern Campus CMS templates feature more design flexibility, additional components, and have mobile-friendly responsive design.

Hosting, support, basic website creation and editor administration for Modern Campus CMS websites is managed by , free of charge to 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø departments. Additionally, Modern Campus CMS website templates meet most the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø website requirements by default, and are automatically included in UA's Google Custom Search Engine located in the official web banner above. Developing a 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø website on a non-OIT-supported server or platform is not advised.

The official 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø web banner (as seen at the top of this page) is required on all official 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø department or program websites. Use of the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø banner is reserved for official 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø department and program websites and may not be used on unaffiliated sites.

If there is a question about whether or not your site qualifies to use the official web banner, or if you need assistance applying the banner to a website not hosted on Modern Campus CMS, contact a University Relations web developer at uaf.web@alaska.edu or 907-474-6281.

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If the platform allows, the official 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø web banner should be a 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø blue bar at the top of the page and contain the horizontal, transparent 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø logo with white text.  At a minimum, a 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø logo should be included in the upper-left corner of the website. If the platform allows, the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø logo should be linked to the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø home page at https://uaf.edu/. 

If you are developing a 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø website on the , follow the instructions below to apply the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø brand your website.

  1. Hover over the top of your New Google Sites website and click "Add logo".
  2. Upload the horizontal 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø logo or your unit's horizontal 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø unit signature. If your unit does not have a unit signature, you can request one from uaf-logo@alaska.edu.
  3. Hover over the bottom of your New Google Sites website and click "Add Footer".
  4. From the Insert>Layouts pane on the right, select desired text and image layout and drag it to the footer.
  5. Add  required language to the site footer:
    • UA notice of nondiscrimination:
      The 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø is an AA/EO employer and educational institution and prohibits illegal discrimination against any individual: Learn more about UA's .

    • UA notice of web accessibility:
      UA is committed to providing accessible websites. Learn more about UA’s       .

  • Page title, headings and subheadings
    • Concise (50-60 characters max with spaces)
    • Contains keyword(s)
    • Avoid acronyms
  • Meta description
    • Concise (130 characters max with spaces)
    • Contains keyword(s)
    • Avoid acronyms
    • Active voice
  • Page body content
    • Break up text with headings and subheadings (see above)
    • Contains keyword(s)
    • Plain language
    • Active voice
    • Short paragraphs
    • Short sentences
    • Bulleted lists
    • Optimize text with free tools for grammar, spelling, readability.
  • Links
  • Images
    • Headings: 1920x720 pixels recommended
    • Body: 600x400 pixels recommended
    • Strive for consistent image size/crop on all images
    • Strive for a file size under 150kb
    • Faster page load is better for Search Engine Optimization, mobile/rural/international/limited-bandwidth users
    • File names should be descriptive, use dashes instead of spaces, and avoid special characters for better Search Engine Optimization.
    • Image descriptions (alt tags) should be meaningful/concise (130 characters max with spaces) to meet accessibility requirement
    • Images MAY NOT be used as a substitute for written webpage content.
  • PDFs and Word documents
    • Indicate in link that users will be downloading a document: "Application form (PDF)"
    • PDF/Word documents should be accessible before posting
    • PDF/Word forms SHOULD also have a Google or DocuSign version.
    • PDF/Word documents MAY NOT be used as a substitute for written webpage content.
  • Video/audio
    • Video must have captions
    • Audio must have transcriptions
51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø brand writing guidelines
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tips

Services

University Relations web services