The UM Libraries’ Best Practices and Web Author’s Checklist

The UM Libraries’ Best Practices and Web Author’s Checklist
The Web Administration Committee (WAC) developed a series of “Web Best Practices” to guide development
of pages placed on the Library server. These guidelines are available at:
http://www.lib.umd.edu/itd/web/bestpractices/
The Best Practices cover topics such as:
o Using the Libraries Templates o Know Your User o Writing for the Web
o Writing HTML o Page Design o Accessibility
o Linking and Navigation o Graphics o Ongoing Maintenance
o Naming Directories, Files and Links o Validating Your HTML
Although you will want to become familiar with all of the “Best Practices”, of particular note are the following:
From “Naming Directories, Files and Links” – (http://www.lib.umd.edu/itd/web/bestpractices/naming.html) --
􀂾 Use lowercase for directory names.
􀂾 Use brief, logical and meaningful file names.
􀂾 Give meaningful names to links (avoid "click here"). Remember that some people scan pages for links;
make the content of your links jump out at those people.
􀂾 When linking off the UM web site, be sure to let users know.
From “Page Design” – (http://www.lib.umd.edu/itd/web/bestpractices/page_design.html) --
􀂾 Left-justify your headings and text to compliment the design of the templates. (See page 13 for a
discussion of the templates.)
􀂾 Consider content “above the fold” – keep highest priority information at the top of the page so users do
not have to scroll down to find it.
􀂾 Maintain a professional appearance – avoid blinking text and animation.
Introduction to HTML – UM University Libraries 13
􀂾 The shade of gold used in the template footer and header should not be used elsewhere in your page
(except if you use gold arrows).
The Web Administration Committee has created a brief, easy-to-read reminder of the elements that make a
Web site usable and accessible to a large, diverse audience. Called the "Web Author's Checklist", this guide
simply references the existing “Best Practices” in writing. The complete Checklist is available online at
http://www.lib.umd.edu/itd/web/checklist.html or in a more concise, printable form, at
http://www.lib.umd.edu/itd/web/checklist.pdf.