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WEB GUIDELINES

Brand elements are built into the website, so it makes it easy for you to effectively tell your story while staying within the brand.

The University uses Cascade CMS to design and maintain departmental webpages. The content management system (CMS) allows some design flexibility to accommodate the unique needs and styles of various departments. 

COLOR PALETTE

Primary

Secondary

 

unf osprey logo element in navy

 

Additional Colors

FONTS

The website uses Google Fonts Open Sans.

Heading Using Open Sans

Soaring is in our nature at the University of North Florida. UNF is a destination for visionary minds — fostering innovation and progress through purpose-driven research, community support and a collaborative spirit that fuels prosperity.

DIGITAL AND WEB BRANDING

When you are consistent with branding, it provides users with an integrated and memorable experience.  To stay consistent with your print and social assets we recommend the following: 

  • Find ways to add white space.
  • Reduce color blocking on your pages. 
    • Consider more light gray blocks.
  •  Use spacer tiers to give your content more breathing room.
  • You can use the UNF angle in your designs.
    • If you use the angle in your graphics, it needs to be 38 degrees.
    • Angles within your content need to be 30 degrees.

NEW ELEMENTS

Using new features that fit with the brand will keep things consistent across the digital spaces.

HEADING ONE CHANGE


Changing heading ones (H1) to all upper case mimics our titles in our print materials.

WHITE BUTTONS


A white button has been added to the button tiers. They can be used visually to reduce clutter.

NEW DIVIDERS


To increase white space on the UNF pages, both an Osprey and angle spacer have been added.

osprey bird logo

BEST PRACTICES

The Digital Presence Committee is the governance body responsible for establishing and upholding the standards of the web publishing presence at UNF. This includes official online communications on the Internet, University portals, social media and other digital platforms.

 

  • Writing Tips
    • Think of your audience.
    • Keep content relevant and up-to-date.
    • Avoid unnecessary information. Most visitors skim pages, not read.
    • Layout and formatting is most effective when it is clean, clear, and consistent.
    • Spell check. Refer to the UNF Writing Style Guidelines for full listing.
    • Avoid the use of ALL CAPS for large sections of text.
    • Avoid the use of underline.
      • The use of underline implies a hyperlink and should not be used to emphasize text or headlines that are not linked.
    • Give page headlines (H1) a strong, descriptive name. For example, any site could have "Forms" or "About Us". Use instead "Human Resources Forms" or "About Physical Facilities".
    • Content Ownership
      • If you do not own the content, do not duplicate it. Link to the original content or website that would always stay up-to-date.
      • If you link to webpages outside of your site, be alert that your link stays active.
  • Formatting URLs
    • Names assist with search engine optimization.
    • Consider words that users would commonly search for.
    • Avoid uncommon abbreviations or acronyms.
    • Use strong, descriptive keywords when naming folders, content, and uploaded files.
  • Hyperlinks
    • Do not use the navigation term "Home" unless it links to the UNF homepage, www.unf.edu.
    • Opening a hyperlink in a new window is generally not recommended. Excessive and inappropriate use can be an annoyance to the viewers. 
    • When publishing a web address in a printed document, use the site homepage.
  • Visuals: Logos, Photography and Graphics

    Logos

    • Follow the UNF guidelines for all uses of the UNF logo.
    • Non-UNF logos (for advertising, partnerships, endorsements, sponsorship and acknowledgements) cannot be larger than the UNF logo located at the top of the template. The UNF logo is approximately 85px by 220 px.

    Clip Art & Stock Photography

    • If your department elects to use stock photography, please comply with all licensing and copyright restrictions for the imagery.

    Optimize graphics for the web:

    • Convert to RGB (CMYK format may prevent the picture from displaying)
    • 72 dpi
    • Properly cropped and resized
  • ADA Compliance
    • Attach the appropriate ADA alt tags to images, hyperlinks and tables in CMS content.
    • Validate your content for ADA compliance prior to publishing.
    • Give image alt tags an appropriate and informative description (alt tag). Consider how it will be read by a screen reader to users that cannot see the image.
    • When presenting information in audio or video format, provide a transcript for users who cannot hear or see the multimedia content.
    • Learn how your webpages measure up! Evaluate your pages using accessibility evaluation tools such as wave.webaim.org.

RETENTION POLICY 

According to the UNF Policy for Developing and Publishing Online Communications, the DPC can authorize the removal of websites and webpages.