Guidelines

Well-designed Web pages require much thought and pre-planning. Web pages published on the MMSD Internet server(s) are visible throughout the world. Their content and quality reflect upon the Web page creator as well as the District and are subject to District specifications. The following specifications and guidelines are designed to help Authors and Publishers create quality Web pages.

Contents:

• Design Guidelines for Web Pages
• Technical Specifications for Web Pages
• Content Specifications for Web Pages

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Design Guidelines for Web Sites and/or Pages

Before Any Web Pages Are Made...

• Identify audience to be serviced by the site or page.
• Identify the purpose and/or need for the site or page.
• Identify potential participants to contribute to the site or page.
• Clarify the organization of information.
• For Web sites, create a top level "home page" that is short, includes the purpose of the Web site and links to the pages containing the actual information. Additional Web pages should provide detailed information.
• For Web sites, sketch out the relationships of the "home page" and the other pages with one another.
• Sketch out the visual design and evaluate its effectiveness.
• Plan graphics with the audience in mind.
• Only use graphics that serve a purpose and use appropriate graphics for that purpose.
• Evaluate the "overall look."
• Strive for a consistent layout style.

When Making Web Pages...

• Use valid HTML as much as possible. This will help insure that the largest possible audience will be able to use your Web pages. You can check your HTML's validity at:
  • Web Design Group's Validation Service
  • The World Wide Web Consortium's HTML Validator
  Validation is especially helpful if you are using certain HTML editors, such as Microsoft FrontPage or Claris HomePage, as these editors often create invalid HTML. Pages created in AOL Press generally do not need to be validated.
• Create Web pages that are easy to read.
• Consider that some viewers who access MMSD Web pages will be using Web browsers other than Netscape or Internet Explorer, and may be using any number of different devices to access the Web, such as screen readers, braillers, etc.
• Include only exemplary work for publishing. Other work can be displayed within individual buildings.

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Technical Specifications for Web Pages

File Name Specifications

File names:

• CANNOT contain spaces or punctuation, except period (.), hyphen (-) or underscore (_);
• should be lower case, unique and descriptive. Examples: africa.htm or elephant.gif or cbcalendar.htm;
• should end with 3 letter extensions, such as .htm, .gif or .jpg

Web Sites and Pages

• Web sites should be a collection of smaller pages accessed from a top level page (versus one long page).
• Web pages should contain links to appropriate parent "home pages" (that is, pages "above" them).
• Longer Web pages should contain a hypertext index and internal links throughout the document to facilitate navigation.

Graphics

• All image tags must have the alternate text attribute, even if it contains nothing (ALT="").
• Images should have a resolution of approximately 72 DPI (dots per inch).
• For quickness in loading, images should be a maximum size of about 35 kb.
• If images larger than 35 kb are used, thumbnail sketches should be provided.
• Images used for Web page backgrounds should be a maximum of 5 kb.
• Use the GIF graphics format (.gif) for clip art or line graphics. Use the JPEG format (.jpg) for photographs. This will allow optimal compression of graphics.

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Content Specifications for Web Pages

Each Web page must contain the following information:

• Last Updated date.
• Author information (if Publisher and Author are not the same). For:
  • Staff Member Authors: the Author's email address.
  • Student Authors: the student's full name with permission and the name and email address of a staff person sponsoring the student's Web page(s).
  • Volunteer Authors: the volunteer's name and email address, if one exists, and the name and email address of a staff person sponsoring the volunteer's Web page(s).
• The Publisher's name and email address.
• Webmaster's email address (webmaster@madison.k12.wi.us).
• A title that appropriately describes the content of the page.
• Well edited text including correct spelling and grammar.
• Factually correct information.
• References if the Web page is a research document.

No Web page may contain:

• Inappropriate material or links to inappropriate material.
• Links to resources that do not exist. ("Dead" links.)
• Email addresses of students.
• Identifiable pictures of students, unless written permission has been granted by the student's parent or guardian.
• Full names of students, unless written permission has been granted by the student's parent or guardian.
• Any graphics or information that is in violation of copyright laws.
• Any commercial or advertising material.

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