Web Standards
Best Practices
When working with Web Services we will require adherence to industry-level conventions and standards. If you are not a professional web developer, you may not be aware of these conventions. We've assembled a list of best-practices to help deliver a better web experience.
- Consistency with branding and nomenclature
- Calls to action
- Fast page loading times
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Mobile device friendly design
- Structured content
- High quality photos
Content Development
Content creation and accuracy of content is the responsibility of the content managers for each individual business unit. Accuracy of content for a web page or website section is the responsibility of the Web Liaison and Web Editors, also referred to as "Content Managers."
Website Development
Web Services delivers a unified and accessible web presence for Valencia College.
We develop and maintain the colleges' websites, maintain brand guidelines, and uphold
industry standards and best practices that promote accessiblity and a good user experience.
Content Placement
The Valencia College website contains a lot of information and must be organized in a way to help visitors find what they are looking for. We have four areas where content can be placed at Valencia College. Which area to use can be determined by asking two questions. Once these are determined, you can choose where to place content.
- Who is the audience?
- What type of access is required?
It is important to add content in the proper location. By organizing content in these areas, users will be able to find the type of content they are looking for more easily. For example, if staff meeting minutes and agendas are moved from the public website into a SharePoint team site, this would reduce the amount of data a student would have to search through to find what they are looking for.
Use this tool to help identify the proper location to publish content, based on audience, access and type of content.
Content Placement Matrix was approved by the CMS Task Force, 2019.
The most popular areas are:
Public Web Sites (public)
Audience:
Potential "Future" Students, Community
Atlas Portal and Canvas (private)
Audience:
Current Students, Faculty & Staff
Microsoft SharePoint and Teams (private)
Audience:
Faculty & Staff
Faculty Frontdoor (public)
Audience:
Current Students, Faculty & Staff
Faculty Web Space
There are a few places faculty can publish content on the web. Which area to post content depends on the type of content you're publishing. Please review these areas below to make the best decision for your content.
Faculty frontdoor is a place where you can post your syllabus and communicate with students publicly. This is helpful if you need to communicate with students before the semester starts.
Canvas is a place where you can post course materials that are only available to students registered for your course. These are only accessible to students after the semester starts. These are in a secure location so students must log in to access.
There is a "public" course option. For more information, contact the Canvas software manager.
Each department at Valencia College has a public web page that contains general information for students that are interested in or already taking courses in your department.