Design Guidelines & Requirements

One of the marks of a good Web site is consistent and logical use of banners, navigation aids and documentation. Such consistency makes a Web site easy to use and navigate and helps an organization present a favorable impression to the outside world. The guidelines that follow are provided to help WPI Web authors develop pages that convey information to readers in an efficient and effective manner consistent with the university's mission and goals.

With a few exceptions, these guidelines do not address proper style in the use of HTML codes and tags. For more on HTML, users are referred to the many HTML references listed in the developer links section of the WPI Web Development Office site.

All pages on the main WPI Webserver, www.wpi.edu, regardless of the maintainer or category, must follow these rules to maintain the consistency of the pages, to help aid in top search engine rankings for all WPI pages and to maintain the high standard image of the site for WPI. (Pages that are personal in nature are included on users.wpi.edu and are not bound by these rules.)

Use of official LINK, VLINK, and ALINK colors:

LINK="#990000" VLINK="#555555" ALINK="#555555"

When possible, anything presented in WPI's official red should be clickable, and anything clickable should be in that color. Exceptions may be made, albeit sparingly, by the UDC Governance Committee.
The e-mail address of the maintainer and last modified date should appear at the bottom of each page, along with the official navigational aids.
Any use of the WPI logo and tagline, beyond what is defined in the next few sections, is not permitted. Please read WPI's Corporate Identity Guide for more details.
WPI's File and Directory Naming Conventions must be followed for all pages located on the main server, www.wpi.edu.

Separate guidelines & requirements have been developed for each of the following categories of WPI Web pages. As you develop your pages, please refer to the appropriate sections listed below:

Maintained by webmaster@wpi.edu
Last modified: Jul 20, 2010, 08:35 EDT