Web Space Guidelines
Downloads
U of T Webspace Guide
- a resource for site owners and designers
Web Templates Pack
Introduction
U of T's webspace represents a combination of organic and planned growth over many years, with contributions from a wide range of stakeholders. These accretions represent the University's efforts to respond to users' needs. But the site is now unwieldy, and the whole is somewhat less than the sum of its parts.
People visiting University of Toronto websites come away with an impression of the University:
our values, goals, and place in the larger community. To enforce the strong and positive impression we wish to leave with our many audiences, the University should have a coherent and cohesive web presence. To encourage visitors to trust and return to the website for important information, university-related sites should strive for a measure of consistency in such areas as architecture, navigation, and design. This U of T Webspace Guide sets out the University's policies and recommendations on these and other areas related to its webspace.
Background
This document is a collaborative effort of the Webspace Working Group, a committee convened in 2007 at the request of the Provost to make recommendations on priority projects related to the University's webspace and to marshal the resources needed to implement the projects approved by the University's senior administration. The Web Working Group comprises representatives nominated by the members of the Principals & Deans group and by the Provost's Office. Members have a mix of communications and technical expertise.
The group used a wiki – a web-based collaborative tool – to input content, introduce questions and discuss relevant issues related to the document. The tool creates a virtual collaboration space that enables members from different areas of the university to participate in a continual dialogue centered on the university’s webspace. The result is a Webspace Guide for the university that addresses some of the real concerns and needs of the community.
This document builds on the work of the Committee to Review the University's Web Space1. It also coincides with the roll-out of the University's new visual identity, which will affect the design and layout of the University's webspace.
Objectives
The university’s webspace needs to support the mission and key goals of the university through strategic communications aimed at its target audiences (e.g., current and prospective students, faculty, staff, researchers, business, etc.).
To support this goal, the Webspace Guide has three objectives:
Demonstrate how to make our webspace usable for U of T constituents. We can improve usability and clarity of content through improved navigation, information architecture and content.
Support the U of T visual identity.
Engage the U of T community within our web environment.
Scope of the U of T Webspace Guide
This Webspace Guide sets out required elements and recommended practices for two groups of university-related sites:
The U of T Core (also referred to as the homepage collection): http://www.utoronto.ca and the presidential, provostial, and vice-presidential and vice-provostial pages that represent the University administration
Faculties and Schools: Websites for academic divisions; i.e., faculties and schools (listed at http://www.utoronto.ca/academic.htm )
At this stage, the Guide focuses on guidelines for the groups of pages described above. Subsequently, the Web Working Group, in consultation with senior administration, can also assess what if any guidelines could be developed for other University web pages. This Guide will itself be available as a set of best practices, however, and will be available to all members of PDAD&C and widely across the university. All areas are encouraged to review this Guide and consider how they might usefully apply similar principles to their sites.