Brand guidelines

Websites

All UAF websites must:

  • Use the UAF 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 ÌÀÄ·ÊÓƵ 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 UAF 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 UAF departments. Additionally, Modern Campus CMS website templates meet most the UAF website requirements by default, and are automatically included in UA's Google Custom Search Engine located in the official web banner above. Developing a UAF website on a non-OIT-supported server or platform is not advised.

The official UAF web banner (as seen at the top of this page) is required on all official UAF department or program websites. Use of the UAF banner is reserved for official UAF 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 UAF web banner should be a UAF blue bar at the top of the page and contain the horizontal, transparent UAF logo with white text.  At a minimum, a UAF logo should be included in the upper-left corner of the website. If the platform allows, the UAF logo should be linked to the UAF home page at https://uaf.edu/. 

If you are developing a UAF website on the , follow the instructions below to apply the UAF brand your website.

  1. Hover over the top of your New Google Sites website and click "Add logo".
  2. Upload the horizontal UAF logo or your unit's horizontal UAF 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 ÌÀÄ·ÊÓƵ 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
UAF brand writing guidelines
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tips

Services

University Relations web services