Missouri State University

Skip to content Skip to navigation
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Web Strategy and Development Blog

  • Web Strategy and Development
  • Web Support
  • @msuweb

Celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) on May 19

May 16, 2022 by Web Strategy and Development

Missouri State students in computer lab.

The world celebrates digital access and inclusion with Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) on the third Thursday of May every year. More than one billion people worldwide have disabilities and impairments. GAAD gets people talking, thinking and learning about digital access and inclusion.

Creating accessible digital content is a must at Missouri State University. We know it can be a lot to think about, so here are some tips to keep in mind. We’ve also included some ways to join in virtually.

Find a GAAD virtual event

#SpotlightAccessibility – Spread positivity around accessibility by highlighting a great feature or product and learn about what others are using.

People with disabilities say these issues come up most often.

  • Videos that are missing captions.
  • Motion, animations and cluttered pages.
  • Auto play videos and auto-advancing slideshows.
  • Walls of text (long paragraphs and large chunks of text).
  • Small font size
    • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) does not specify a minimum font size requirement.
  • Zooming problems: sites frequently break when size is increased by user.
  • Low contrasts and image of text: scan of a page of text saved as PDF produces an image of text.
  • Bright color schemes: white backgrounds can lead to migraines.
  • Relying only on color: this has long been a no-no, but still prevalent.
  • Mouse-focused sites: not usable on touch screens and difficult for users with motor impairments.
  • Too small touch-targets: thhis is the reason Missouri State University’s 2019 web redesign is so spacious.
  • CAPTCHAS: Keep out a lot more than bots.

Here’s what you can do to make your content more accessible.

While some of these items are automatically handled by MSU’s web templates, you still have an impact on many of of these items.

  • Don’t create a wall of text. Keep paragraphs to 2-4 sentences.
    • Content styled as Intro format should be brief; one or two short sentences plus 1-3 bullets. Anything longer isn’t introductory content.
  • Use headings to make an outline of your content.
  • Avoid images of text. When necessary, the alt text should contain all text in the image.
  • Don’t use heading markup (e.g., h3, h4) to make an “important” statement; consider a Notice Block instead.
  • Don’t use bold or italics for an entire sentence.
  • Use meaningful text for links; avoid brief abstract terms like read more or click here.
  • For web addresses, write descriptive link text.

Make sure you’re following the style guide.

  • In time references, use figures with a.m. and p.m throughout. Omit :00.
    • Examples: Summer office hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telephone support is available 2:30-4 p.m. daily.
  • In email addresses, capitalize each word. Example: BoomerBear@MissouriState.edu.
  • Preferred capitalizations, spelling and usage:
    • Phone numbers: use dashes, not periods. Omit parentheses around the area code. 417-836-5000
    • Most words beginning with “non” or “post” should be formatted as one word with no hyphen (ex. noncredit, nondegree, nondegree-seeking, postbaccalaureate, postdoctoral, postdoctorate). Post-master’s should be hyphenated.
    • Email, not e-mail.
    • Use only one space between sentences. Do not use a space at the end of a paragraph or bulleted list item.
  • Common Bear terms:
    • Bear CLAW
    • Bear Line
    • BearWear
    • BearFare
    • BearMail
    • BearPass
    • Bear Park North (South)
    • BoomerMeals
    • Bear Breaks

Resources

Editorial Style Guide

Web Accessibility Clinic

Omni CMS Documentation

Filed Under: Accessibility, Training Tagged With: a11ysummit, Accessibility, conference, gaad

New Content Management System Coming Soon

March 3, 2021 by Web Strategy and Development

A staff member works no their laptop.

The Web Strategy and Development team recently led the process to acquire a new content management system (CMS) for university websites. This means that all Web Press sites will have an entirely new and improved editor experience. The name of product is Omni CMS, offered by Modern Campus (formerly OmniUpdate). The Omni CMS platform was developed specifically for Higher Education and has many features that we will utilize.

Some of the many advantages this new system will bring, are:

  • Regular online training for editors and administrators.
  • Online knowledge base and other resources.
  • More seamless editing with a deep link feature allowing you to login directly from the live website page you want to edit.
  • WYSIWYG editor with drag and drop functionality.
  • A pre-publish accessibility checker within the system.
  • A cloud hosted platform.
  • A cost effective solution.

We are planning for website migration to take place in April and May of this year. When we are ready to migrate your site, we will reach out to editors and work together to complete site migration to the new Omni platform. Prior to that, we will be connecting with various departments and units to help ensure websites are up-to-date. Old and outdated content will need to be removed and cleaned up. This will result in a much smoother process and a more pristine website after migration.

We look forward to collaborating with our colleagues to usher all of our websites into this new platform. You’ll be hearing from us in April or May, but please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions at web@missouristate.edu.

 

 

Filed Under: Technical, Training, Web Press, web strategy and development

Meet our newest team member: Valerie Cummings

October 20, 2020 by Web Strategy and Development

Valerie Cummings headshot

The web strategy and development office is pleased to welcome Valerie Cummings to our staff.

Valerie comes to us from Missouri State Outreach, where she spent over 25 years as the Director of Marketing and Promotions. In this role, Valerie designed and managed the Outreach website.

She also managed various projects and marketing campaigns, and developed front end coding skills that she’ll be using in her position as front end designer/developer.

We are very excited have Valerie join our team, and look forward to all the experience and talent that she will bring.

Filed Under: web strategy and development Tagged With: marketing and communications, web strategy and development

Graduate students: Share the stories of MSU

May 1, 2019 by Web Strategy and Development

Our team is growing.

The marketing and communications division at Missouri State currently has three open graduate assistantships.

Are you a creative communicator who loves to tell stories? We need you to help recruit students and be a brand ambassador for the university and its programs.

Each position would give you an opportunity to get hands-on experience with marketing, promotion, writing, editing and public relations while having your education paid for.

Find the position that’s right for you.

Filed Under: Academic websites, News, Social media, web strategy and development Tagged With: graduate assistantships

New design for university websites

April 17, 2019 by Web Strategy and Development

Missouri State students in computer lab.

We’re excited to announce that Missouri State University websites will soon have a fresh look. The first change comes next week on the homepage.

Our goal: to create an action-oriented experience for future Bears. The new homepage will also showcase bold video, imagery and content elements.

What’s new

All Missouri State University websites hosted in Web Press are moving to new templates.

In late April, we’ll start the transition with the release of a new homepage.

Top portion of new Missouri State University homepage.
A sneak-peak of the new homepage. The modern look includes an expansive “hero” video area.
New Missouri State University homepage on mobile view.
The new homepage on mobile view.

Other highlights on the new homepage include:

  • An admissions-focused layout. We’ve made it easier to apply, visit and donate to Missouri State.
  • A carousel of stories, centered around student success.
  • Upcoming events in an easy-to-read format, with quick links to the full calendar.
  • Bold, impactful stats that detail university accomplishments.

The new templates have other options for design layouts, too.

All MSU Web Press sites will switch to the new templates, and we will release a schedule for this move later in the year.

For questions or concerns

If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us.

Filed Under: brand, News, Redesign, template, updates, Web Press, web strategy and development

Next Page »

Subscribe

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Follow @MSUWeb

My Tweets

Calendar

  • Complete Calendar

Categories

  • Accessibility
  • brand
  • email marketing
  • Mobile
  • News
  • Redesign
    • Academic websites
    • Web redesign 2010
    • Web redesign 2015
  • Social media
    • Social media kit
  • template
    • updates
  • Training
  • Video
  • Web Press
  • web strategy and development
    • Technical
  • Web Support
  • WordPress blogs

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Connect with web strategy and development

  • Twitter

Make your Missouri statementMake your Missouri statement
  • Last Modified: April 17, 2019
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Disclosures
  • EO/AA/M/F/Veterans/Disability/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity
  • © 2013 Board of Governors, Missouri State University
  • Contact Information
 

Loading Comments...