Liberty University Web Policy

Updated 2/3/2012

Websites representing Liberty University divisions that are designed, hosted and supported by Liberty University are the property of the University and subject to governance by Marketing and Information Technology. All such websites must conform to this policy and the Brand Identity policy of the University. The purpose of the Liberty University web policy is to establish consistency in style, content, structure and functionality of Liberty University websites.

Maintenance and oversight

The web policy is maintained by the New Media, Online and Web committee.

The NOW committee, established by the chancellor, provides direction, oversight and policy enforcement for internally and externally-facing websites, web-based services and applications and new media produced by the university.

The committee publishes and edits the Liberty University web policy as necessary.

The committee fields or delegates to other departments or individuals requests from university groups for separate web templates, social network channels, domain purchases, software purchases and requests for internal development of programs and functionality.
 

Hosting

All University web pages and websites must be hosted and maintained on the University’s network.

Templates

In general, all web pages will be created within the established Liberty University web page template. It is understood that some departments or organizations affiliated with the University will require a separate template. Requests for a separate template design will be decided by Web Content & Design and Information Technology.

The template provides the visual design of the website; the content is provided by the Web Manager users. Departments are not to create a second, separate design within their web pages.

Web Manager

Web Manager is the CMS (Content Management System) tool used by Liberty University to create and edit website content for all university-designed and hosted websites.

Any questions concerning functionality not offered through Web Manager may be submitted via the contact information on the Web Manager homepage.

Access to Web Manager is both a privilege and a responsibility.

Access to Web Manager:

1. Granted to university employees, and occasionally to students, after completion of required training. Students may not serve as Publishers.
2. May be removed individually or departmentally if the user/department fails to adhere to the university web policy, posts anything contrary to the mission of the University, repeatedly fails to keep web content current or to follow the guidelines set forth by the Web Content and Design office or Information Technology.
3. Granted at the Normal level to no more than five individuals per web department, at least one of which must be a full-time employee.
4. Granted at the Publisher level to one full-time employee per web department. Departments seeking an exception must receive approval from the Web Content and Design manager. Publishers are required to complete additional training.

Expectations of all Web Manager Users:

1. Attend required Web Manager training course.
2. Follow direct instructions from the Web Content and Design office regarding content.
3. Review and follow any posted guidelines or instructions found on the Web Manager blog.
4. Regularly review all department Web content to maintain/ensure currency.
5. Delete files from the File Manager that are no longer in use.
6. Properly edit and format all content and files for upload.
7. Comply with the University Web Policy.

Expectations of Publisher Web Manager Users:

1. Comply with Web Manager User expectations outlined above.
2. Attend required Publisher Web Manager training course.
3. Serve as website contact for Web Content and Design office.
4. Create and maintain department navigation sets.
5. Delete outdated pages as necessary, taking care not to break links from other pages website-wide.
6. Approve page edits/creations for Normal users.

Special rights:

1. Technician access will be granted only to individuals in departments with a demonstrated need to access the WYSIWYG source code for the purpose of adding functionality. The functionality must be approved by the office of Web Content and Design.
2. Admin rights to all pages and features of Web Manager are restricted to Information Technology or Marketing personnel that provide website template design, website editing software development, network maintenance or university-level content maintenance.

Copyright

All original material appearing on Liberty University websites is copyrighted by Liberty University and may not be reproduced elsewhere without written permission from the University.

Web Manager users wishing to include copyrighted content from outside sources on a University website must obtain proper permissions to do so.

Navigation

With limited exception, University navigation must appear on every page (except Official Pages, which employ a different navigation scheme). When creating pages, always check “Display departmental navigation.”

• All departments must use their page titled "Official page" as their department's main page.
• Departments may require more than one navigation set. Multiple navigation sets are encouraged to increase organization and decrease the number of links per navigation set.
• Departments approved to use different templates must employ a consistent system of navigation.

Images, Flash, and audio/video files

• Image size is limited to 150K. All images must be optimized for the web (Photoshop).
• Maximum width for pages without navigation: 780px. Maximum width for pages with navigation: 610px.
• Audio/Video/Flash may be used sparingly and strategically to enhance content. Contact the Marketing Department for assistance.
• Audio and video files may not play automatically on the site.
• Text may not be inserted into a page in the form of an image, with the exception of headers (as approved by the web team).
• Non-text content should have a text description in an alternative text tag.

Advertising/sponsorships/partnerships

Outside organizations or companies providing sponsorship or services beneficial to the Liberty University community may appear on a web page in a discreet and tasteful manner. E.g., Hockey may create a sponsors page to thank their sponsors; the Visitors Center may link to a page of local hotels as a service to site visitors.

Paid advertisements are not permitted to appear on the University website, consistent with its academic purpose. Exception is made only for select departments/organizations which are permitted by the University to sell advertising, such as 90.9 FM, the Liberty Champion, and Athletics.

Colors & fonts

Official Liberty University colors for use on the web are red #AF0000 and blue #0A254E.

All text must appear in site-specific default fonts provided in Web Manager. Body text should be black or dark enough to provide a high contrast against the background.

Text and graphics should be able to be understood without color. Individuals with colorblindness or difficulty differentiating colors, or those with non-color displays will miss a message that is conveyed through color.

Liberty logos

Logos are not to be used on the website because the University wordmark appears at the top of each page. See the Liberty University Brand Identity Guide for more information about logos

Students and Faculty/Staff login pages

The Students and Faculty/Staff login pages have been created to communicate with the on-campus community – resident students, commuter students, staff members, and faculty. Although some messages may also be relevant to online students, www.luonline.com has a current student page with messaging specifically for online students and faculty.

Announcements

• All announcements created for a login page must be approved by the appropriate announcement moderator. Announcements are posted to the website using the Campus Announcements web application.
• All announcements are for internal messages only. Solicitations, advertisements for off-campus or non-student jobs, items for sale, non-Liberty events or roommates are not permitted.
• Announcements for student employment at Liberty may be displayed on a login page, provided the announcement appears in the public section and contains a link to Human Resources. All other announcements for student employment/internships must not appear on a login page but may be submitted to the Career Center for inclusion on their page. Non-complying student employment/internship announcements may be removed.
• Announcements for Christian/Community Service opportunities may be displayed on a login page in the Ministries section if the opportunity has been approved by the Christian/Community Service office. Non-complying announcements may be removed.
• All those items, which a moderator feels, are not applicable for that section will appear in the Public section.
• The Marketing Department will delete inappropriate announcements, and will notify the announcement author with an explanation for the deletion.

Rotating images

• University offices may submit requests for the rotating images to Marketing. Requests should be sent to announcements@liberty.edu.
• Advertisements for upcoming Liberty University events, notices of special accomplishments or news of special interest to the Liberty community are acceptable for consideration. Slides may be requested for the student login page, the faculty/staff login page or both.
• Content specifications listed above (numbers 2, 3 and 4) for announcements also apply to the rotating images.
• Slide requests will be approved if possible, but may be denied by Marketing due to the nature and timeliness of requests, the total volume of requests received and the quality of the slide image.
• Slide text should be kept to a minimum. E.g., text should contain event titles and pertinent information. If more information is needed, the slide must link to a text announcement or department webpage.
• Slides must be easily legible. Slides that are not easily legible at the proper size or that use illegible fonts will not be approved.
• Slides will run for no more than two consecutive weeks (14 days) unless prior approval is received from Marketing.
• Slides must be submitted in layered PSD (Photoshop) or JPEG format. Dimensions are 382 pixels wide by 214 pixels high at 72 PPI (pixels per inch) in RGB color. Though this is the same ratio as slides for convocation, convocation slide art must be sized for the login page before submission.
• Requests must be received three working days before the requested live date.

Additional content

• The “Pic of the Day” section highlights recent photography. Photos may be submitted by university personnel or students. Inclusion is at the discretion of the Marketing Department. Submissions should be sent to announcements@liberty.edu, including the photographer’s name if credit is desired.
• Poll questions for the student login page may be submitted by university offices. Inclusion is at the discretion of the Marketing Department. Email announcements@liberty.edu for consideration.
• Links in the left column of the page are intended to offer convenient access to the most sought-after content. Inclusion is at the discretion of the Marketing Department. University offices should email jdpope@liberty.edu for consideration.

Sensitive information

No passwords, usernames, student addresses or student phone numbers may appear on any Liberty University website.

News of deaths within the Liberty community will be appropriately communicated by the Campus Pastor’s Office and/or the Office of the Chancellor.

Blogs

See Liberty University’s Blog Policy.

RSS feeds

Liberty University provides RSS feeds for Liberty News Releases and Splash page announcements on its website.

Departments may display outside RSS feeds from trustworthy and relevant sites that will not be in violation of Liberty University’s standards or mission. The web page’s author is responsible for assuring that the RSS content is appropriate.

Accessibility compliance

In order to provide site visitors with disabilities access to all site content, all text must be provided on the web page, and not in image form. The assistive technologies used to read web pages cannot read text within images.

Departments should include alternative text tags on images, movies, and other non-text content to provide a description of the content to those who cannot access it.

All pages should employ consistency of format and language.

EDU Homepage

The content of the homepage of the Liberty University website, www.liberty.edu, is maintained by Marketing. Content includes recent news stories, calendar events and an introductory paragraph.

The Flash section of the homepage features information and accomplishments of the university that is promotional of the university as a whole. At times the messages are individual; at others they are coordinated to represent a particular campaign of the university.

Offices that wish to request or nominate an accomplishment or concept for the Flash section may contact the Marketing Department. Requests for news stories or calendar items should be directed to Marketing as well. Requests cannot be guaranteed inclusion.

Domain management

Domain names owned by the University are managed by Information Technology. Requests for domain acquisitions must be submitted via the University’s HelpDesk ticket system, and will be reviewed by the New Media, Online and Web Committee.

When applicable, associated fees are charged to the budget of the requesting department.

All domains must point to a Liberty University website. If there is no longer an appropriate website to point a domain to, Liberty University ownership of the domain may be discontinued (at the discretion of the New Media, Online and Web Committee).

All domains are reviewed yearly by the office of Software Compliance and Telecommunications.