VCU Web Guidelines Changes for 2006

Updated in Privacy:

It is the policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia that personal information about citizens will be collected only to the extent necessary to provide the service or benefit desired; that only appropriate information will be collected; that the citizen shall understand the reason the information is collected and be able to examine their personal record which is maintained by a public body. This is part of VCU's overall Privacy Policy Statement. If your site goes beyond this statement then you must include your own privacy statement that explains in detail what information is being collected and how it is being used. (When do I need a privacy statement?)

Adhere to VCU Identity:

Consistent with VCU Identity - VCU Mark must be on dept home page & visible on initial load for 800x600 screen. The VCU emblem does not qualify as part of the VCU Identity. The VCU Bar must also be included on the home page. There is no location or color requirements.

Updated in 2005:

Each organization creating pages is responsible for maintaining those pages in a timely manner with the latest information. For this compliance test, all home pages must have been updated in 2005 and all second level pages in 2004, preferably 2005.

Signature Block:

All pages must contain a signature block with the following information:

VCU (and a link to the VCU Home page)
Parent Organization (and a link to its home page)
The date of the last revision, the expiration date or the revision frequency.
The name of the unit responsible for the page.
An e-mail link to the person responsible for the page.
The following can be placed in the signature block or a separate "Contact Us" page (linked from the signature block)
- Street Address
- Mail Address
- Phone
- E-mail

Parent Link:

All pages must contain a link back to the organization's homepage.
Moved to the signature block.

VCU Home Page Link

Organizational homepages must contain a link back to the VCU homepage and a link back to their parent organization (if any). The VCU Identity Web Elements may be used as the anchor for the link to the VCU Home Page.
Moved to the signature block.

US Mail/Phone Number

Organizational homepages must include the street address, U.S. Mail address (if different), and telephone number of the organization's main office or an obvious link to this information. Telephone Number must include the area code. (e.g. 804)
Moved to the signature block.

Accessibility

Section 508 Accessibility compliance was checked using the Bobby software application.

For information on 508 accessibility compliance and how to correct related errors, please visit the VCU Accessibility web site.
You can check your site at: http://www.contentquality.com/

The VCU Text Site is a dynamic text version of your site available for your use. More information is available at http://text.vcu.edu.

Google Search

All pages that have a search feature must use the Google search engine. The ht://dig search engine should not be used any longer. Here is a tutorial on how to add Google to your site.

People Search

All pages that have the people search feature must use the 'new' VCU People search engine. Here is a tutorial on how to add the people search to your site.

Official VCU Information Sources

Departments must link to information from official information sources, and not try to duplicate these sources. This prevents outdated and inaccurate information.

Authoritative Links

Organizations creating pages should provide links, if necessary, to pages containing authoritative information outside their areas of responsibility (i.e. policies, admissions, University mission and history, etc.) rather than creating the pages themselves. This is to ensure that the most up-to-date and accurate information is being provided.

Proper English

Careful attention to spelling, grammar, punctuation and word use is required.

Nomenclature

In accordance with the VCU Name Use Style Sheet, all pages must use the correct nomenclature for Virginia Commonwealth University, its Medical College of Virginia Campus and its teaching hospital, the Medical College of Virginia Hospital. And make sure all "Academic Campus" references have been changed to "Monroe Park Campus."

Copyright

Complies w/ appropriate VCU policies and applicable local, state, and federal laws, including copyright. If you use images form other sites, you must get permission to use those images.

Page Load Time:

Web Site home pages and other directory pages should load in 4 seconds or less for a 56K connection. Home pages that take longer than 10 seconds to load should be avoided.