1) Page Identification and Metadata
Include a clear descriptive title within <title> tags. This title will be displayed by search engines and user bookmarks. Keywords and a page description within <meta> tags will help search engines find your page and rank it higher in results. You can check with paid services like Overture™ or Wordtracker™ for help creating high-impact keywords or test your keywords on Google™ or Yahoo™.

2) Page Updates
On each page, indicate the date the page was last reviewed or updated. Pages should be reviewed at least once a year. Regularly updating content will also help move your site up in search engine results.

3) File Size
Since many users access the Rutgers site via phone lines and modems, individual pages should be kept to a file size that requires 10 seconds or less to download using a 56K modem. The preferred file size for most pages is less than 40K. Dr. Watson is a free online service that measures and reports file sizes and the time it will take to download your page.

4) Usability
Design all pages so they can be viewed and used by the broadest range of platforms, browsers, and equipment.

a) Page Width
Make sure that all pages can be viewed on a 1024 x 768 pixel screen, without horizontal scrolling. Practically, that means defined table widths or combined widths of images cannot exceed 955 pixels. It is strongly recommended that essential information pages be designed to display on an 800 x 600 pixel screen. In this case, defined table widths or combined widths of images should be a maximum of 750 pixels.

b) Browser Compatibility
Pages should be readable by all browsers with emphasis on the following: Netscape 6.0 and higher, Internet Explorer 5.0 and higher, AOL 6.0 and higher, and Lynx or other text-only browsers.

c) Images
Optimize images for fastest download time possible. To facilitate use by text-only browsers, include the <alt> attribute of the image tag with descriptive text for every critical image. Spacing gifs, bullets, and other incidental images should also use empty <alt> attributes of image tags (<alt="">). All image tags should also specify image height and width to improve download time.

d) Tables
If tables are used, the content must make sense when linearized (e.g., by text-only browsers).

e) Frames
If you use frames, provisions must be made for non-frames browsers. One approach is to add a <noframes> tag, which links either to the main content frame or to an alternative page.

f) Java, JavaScript, and Flash
Because browsers used by the visually impaired often do not include Java, JavaScript, or Flash, do not implement essential functions using those programs unless you provide an alternative text version of the content.

g) Color distinction
In most cases, links should be displayed in a different color once they have been visited. Choose colors that color-blind viewers can distinguish. (You can check colors for this characteristic at Vischeck.) In addition, essential functionality should not depend on color distinctions.

5) Rutgers Logo
Make sure that all logos and other university marks or symbols displayed are official versions currently approved for use. Old logos and marks must be replaced by current versions. Rutgers universitywide logos are available on the Rutgers Visual Identity System web site. Do not create your own version of the Rutgers logo. For more information about the use of university logos and marks, see Rutgers Visual Identity System or visit Trademark Licensing.

6) University Links
Rutgers web pages should promote the entire university, as well as the specific departments or programs. See the University Web Policy for information on elements that must appear on all official Rutgers sites. Where appropriate, incorporate links to universitywide information pages, search engines, and indexes. Use information generated by other units by linking to their pages.

7) Web Page Coding Recommendations
The future of web development is based on W3C⁽¹⁾ standards⁽²⁾, namely XHTML
and CSS. The purpose of these standards is to facilitate web development while making the web a more usable and accessible medium. XHTML and CSS achieve this through separation of presentation (look, appearance, colors, fonts, layout) and structure (content, headings, paragraphs). With this in mind, it is recommended that web developers migrate their sites to comply with W3C standards. This includes XHTML 1.0⁽³⁾ for document structure and CSS 2.0⁽⁴⁾ for both visual style and content positioning. This strategy is recommended since the percentage of the target audience using version 5+ (standards-compliant) browsers⁽⁵⁾ is increasing.

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(1) http://www.w3.org/
(2) http://www.webstandards.org/learn/faq/#p2
(3) http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/
(4) http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS2/
(5) http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/browserupgrades.html

8) Privacy
Schools, departments, and other units are encouraged to provide specific notices about the collection and use of any personal information associated with their web pages. In general, personal information gathered via email or through other online means should be used only for purposes necessary to serve the user’s needs, such as responding to an inquiry or other request for information. Personally identifiable information about users should not be sold, exchanged or otherwise distributed without their consent, except to the extent required by law. In addition, it is university policy that confidential information gathered in online surveys be used only for the research purposes indicated in the survey.

9) Testing
The best way to ensure the accuracy and usability of a website is to submit it to a sequence of tests. We recommend the following:

• Have the content proofread for factual or spelling errors, and consistency.
• View each page in Mac and PC platforms with multiple browser types and versions and at various monitor resolutions.
• Test each page with validators available through the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), such as HTML Validator, CSS Validator, and a link checker). For these validators to test your site, all pages must have a complete DOCTYPE and must specify correct character encoding. For more information on DOCTYPES please visit http://www.alistapart.com/articles/doctype. Additional information regarding character encoding may be found at http://www.w3.org/International/O-charset.html.
• Test each page with a text-only browser and accessibility checkers, such as Bobby™ and Vischeck to make sure they can be used by persons with disabilities.

If you have questions or comments about these policies, please contact Eve Burris (732/445-3710, ext. 6215).