UVic web standards
Modern websites are user-driven. They consider the needs of the user first, and the needs of the organization second.
Most people come to your website to find information about a specific topic, or to complete a task. People don't browse web content; they search for it using targeted keywords or phrases.
UVic's web standards ensure that our audiences can find and can interact with our web content.
Accessible
Anyone visiting a UVic website should be able to interact with all content. This means they can navigate every page and access every document, regardless of their physical or cognitive ability.
Accessibility means making your content available to everyone, including people with disabilities.
Readable
Content on web pages should be clear and scannable to make reading and understanding information as easy as possible.
Readability helps people find your web pages through search engines. It also impacts whether your content is correctly translated into other languages.
Searchable
Web pages should be structured so that search engines (e.g. Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) can easily crawl and understand the content on a page. This is often referred to as search engine optimization or SEO.
Content should never be duplicated on more than one web page. It should be clear and use the type of language your target audience would use to search.
Mobile-first
Many people use mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) as their primary way to browse the web. To provide a positive experience on smaller screens, all web pages should be clean and uncluttered. Documents and media should use a small file size.
A mobile-first approach is also important for SEO, as the most popular search engines rank a site based on how well it performs on a mobile device.
User-driven
Website content should be task-driven and written for a specific audience. Too much information and complicated navigation make it harder for your audiences to find what they need.
The user experience considers all the ways your audiences interact with you, both on and offline.
Training
We've developed self-guided tutorials to explore these topics in greater detail. You’ll learn about web best practices for accessibility, readability and SEO.