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All publicly accessible Â鶹ÊÓƵ×îÐÂ×îÈ« websites must comply with WCAG 2.1 standards under the ADA. 

Enhance your skills with our Accessibility for Webmasters training, covering key principles, Siteimprove audits, and strategies for accessible websites, Word documents, and PDFs. Learn best practices like proper tagging, heading styles, alt text for images, and managing scanned files. Explore real-world Accessibility Examples to see correct and incorrect usage, and review our Requirements at a Glance to ensure compliance while improving user experience for all.

Learn about PDF requirements on the web

Â鶹ÊÓƵ×îÐÂ×îÈ« requires accessible, user-friendly, and discoverable web content.

We encourage converting PDFs into web pages to enhance accessibility, mobile-friendliness, SEO, and ease of maintenance. While web pages are preferred, PDFs may be used for legal compliance (e.g., IRS forms), official documents, archival purposes, or printable user-facing materials. Learn Why We Encourage Web Pages Over PDFs and explore When PDFs May Be Approved.

Read our PDF Guidelines for more information

See instructions on making PDFs accessible

Ensure all content complies with the following policies:

• General Copyright Policy
• Administrative Copyright Policy
• Copyright-Protected Works
• Web-Publishing Policy

By embedding or linking to forms on , users agree to comply with the Web Form Operating Procedure outlined in Policy 9-01.3. This ensures all forms meet accessibility and functionality requirements.

• Web Form Policies

To effectively engage prospective and current students, all academic unit websites must include:

• Primary Navigation: Best practices suggest having 5 to 8 primary navigation sections, depending on label length, with 5 to 7 items in each dropdown.
• Program Pages: Use the Catalog API for transitioning academic program pages.

Additionally, "Calls to Action" are required on homepages.

Department website home pages have been designed to include calls to action to provide quick access to actionable and/or frequently used resources, such as forms, applications and FAQs.

It is worth noting that these calls to action should not mirror the exact same labels as those that appear in your website's primary navigation. Also, our standard website templates best display three to six action items. 

Required Homepage Calls to Action

Requirements vary between administrative and academic units.

Administrative Units

Administrative units have the option to exclude, if not applicable.

Colleges and Academic Departments

To support recruitment and retention, it is required that Â鶹ÊÓƵ×îÐÂ×îÈ« University’s academic units include standard call-to-action items on their websites in this order:

1. Find Majors & Degrees
2. Schedule Visit (only if department-specific visits are offered and information is captured in the CRM)
3. Apply Now
4. Schedule Advising Appointment
5. Study Abroad, if offered

Reminders:

1. Academic departments are NOT permitted to include admissions requirements, roadmaps or other information included in the catalog. Rather, an academic program page must be used. Contact Web Team for details by .
2. Do not use the term roadmap.
3. Do not used student names in photos, unless permission is granted. 

Consistent and accurate grammar is essential for credibility. Use the following resources:

• Associated Press (AP) Stylebook for grammar and style.
• Webster’s New World College Dictionary for definitions and usage.

If you need help, contact University Communications and Marketing at 330-672-2727 or email info@kent.edu.

• Web Editor Reference Guide

Conduct an annual review of your website to ensure:

• Information is up-to-date.
• No spelling or grammar errors are present.
• Broken links are repaired using Siteimprove.

Contact the Web Team for assistance with Siteimprove.

Create content that is engaging and easy to read by following these principles:

• Brevity: Use no more than half the text required for print materials.
• Scannability: Break text into short paragraphs with headings and subheadings.
• Clarity: Use meaningful headings, avoid jargon, and link to additional resources for detailed information.

Every homepage must feature either a hero image or a video below the Â鶹ÊÓƵ×îÐÂ×îÈ« banner.

For guidelines, see Images, Graphics and Video

To ensure a polished and professional appearance, utilize the pre-designed elements available in Â鶹ÊÓƵ×îÐÂ×îȫ’s Elements Library. These elements are optimized for both functionality and visual appeal.

• Elements Library

Optimize your website for search visibility by following these steps:

• Use clear and descriptive page titles.
• Incorporate keywords naturally within headings and body text.
• Use Â鶹ÊÓƵ×îÐÂ×îȫ’s SEO Guide for detailed instructions.