Web Strategy and Development Blog

Unused Web Press assets archived

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Unused assets in Web Press Asset Manager folders have been archived. If a needed file was archived contact the web help desk to have it restored.

By the numbers

  • Files in Web Press before archive: 35,800+
  • Storage consumed: more than 21GB
  • Unused files archived: 5,800+
  • Storage reclaimed: more than 3GB

Support

Please contact the web help desk at webpress@missouristate.edu or 417-836-5271 weekday afternoons if you have any questions or would like assistance removing unneeded files from your Asset Manager folder.

You are also invited to visit us in the Web Press open lab every Friday afternoon 2-4 p.m.

Update your four-year degree plans with our help

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Web Strategy and Development is assisting with campus-wide updates to four-year undergraduate degree plans. This is a provost-supported project.

Send your updates to us

Academic departments should update their four-year degree plans for the upcoming academic year.

Does your department need help with making updates?

We’ll process them for you.

Email your updated degree plans to webpress@missouristate.edu by June 29. Expect two to four business days for us to process your changes.

We’ll make your updates for the 2018-19 academic year. Your department will complete future updates.

Why are degree plan updates needed?

Two reasons:

  • To reflect the new credit hour requirements
  • To align with the 2018-19 catalog requirements

Missouri State changed its credit hour requirements for undergraduate degrees from 125 to 120 hours.

Certain undergraduate degrees still require more than 120 hours. But, your degree plan must still reflect the current catalog requirements.

What if I don’t update my degree plans?

Your department will receive a notification about any outdated degree plans.

In July, the registrar’s office will conduct a search to catch any outdated degree plans on university websites.

Your degree plan will be flagged as outdated if:

  • It doesn’t have the current catalog year
  • It doesn’t have a review date listed at the bottom

Example: Degree plan with current catalog year

The introduction to your degree plan should reference the current catalog.

Example: degree plan review date

The bottom of your degree plan page should include a review date no earlier than March 29, 2018.

What if I’ve already updated my degree plans?

Great! Please make sure your updated degree plans include the current catalog year (2018-19) and the review date at the bottom.

These steps require some technical knowledge of Web Press.

Review our Web Press how-to instructions or contact our web help desk if you need assistance.

Even if you’ve updated your credit hour requirements, you still need the appropriate catalog listing (2018-19) and review date.

What about three-year degree plans?

We’ve removed most three-year degree plans from university websites. Some are still live, as requested by individual departments.

Questions?

Contact the web help desk at 417-836-5271 or email at webpress@missouristate.edu

Degree plan best practices

  • Develop your degree plans in the same format as the current four-year plans. A list of four-year plans is available on the Provost’s website.
  • Programs with multiple track options should have a four-year plan for each track option.
  • Programs with multiple degree types (BA, BS) should have a four-year plan for each degree type.
  • Title your four-year plan as specifically as possible.

Recap: Web Accessibility Clinic

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Brian Heaton and Kristeena Laroue recently conducted a Web Accessibility Clinic. It was a comprehensive training session for identifying and correcting common accessibility issues with websites, including a screen reader demonstration.

Access the presentation

Key takeaways

Headings

  • Headings are an outline of your content.
  • Do not select heading level based on resulting visual presentation style.
  • Page title is heading level 1 (h1); first heading in your content will be h2; subtopic will be h3; etc.
  • Do not use bold paragraph for heading.
  • Avoid centering headings.
  • Headings should make sense out of context.
  • Headings divide your content into consumable sections.

Alternative text for non-text content

  • Provide alternate (alt) text for non-text content.
    • Images, including poster/flyer images (infographics).
    • Alt text should convey in text whatever meaning is conveyed by the image/flyer.
      • If the image has a lot of information, charts, diagrams, etc., the alt text should contain 1) a short description conveying the essential information presented by the image, and 2) a long description following the image or on another page.
        Bar chart displaying cost comparisons as detailed in the following paragraphs.

Link text (descriptions)

  • Very critical to the page containing the link and the destination page.
  • Links should make sense out of context.
  • Do not use meaningless or incomplete text like click here, learn more, download, etc.
  • Do not use URLs for link text.
  • Optimal link text is typically 2-6 words.
  • Each unique destination should have unique link text.

Content structure

  • Use paragraphs, unordered and ordered lists appropriately.
  • Write for your target audience.
  • Do not use a heading or bolded paragraph for announcement or notice. Use “Intro” or “Notice” markup instead.
  • Do not add blank paragraphs to generate separating space.
  • Do not create manual lists (e.g., starting lines with a hyphen).
  • Do not bold or italicize entire paragraphs, even one-line paragraphs. Treat just the important words.
  • Do not use all capital letters.
  • Avoid centering content.
  • The template is spacious by design; do not try to circumvent vertical spacing.

Tables

  • Used for presenting organized data.
  • Never use for layout (e.g., two columns).
  • Should always have headers (th). No need to bold or specify header as a heading style.
  • Do not combine multiple tables into one with embedded description row preceding each table.
  • Precede with descriptive heading, paragraph or include a table caption.

Screen readers

The screen reader demonstration showed typical page navigation and how page headings and links are frequently processed in a list. This emphasized how lists are consumed without benefit of the surrounding context, highlighting the importance of clear and complete heading and link text.

Hear your site on a screen reader

The testing center, located in Meyer Library Lower Level, room 010, has screen reader software installed and will have limited availability during the summer, with advance reservation. Please contact the testing center to make an appointment.

More assistance

Future sessions

Early in the fall and spring semesters a weekly open lab session will be focused on web accessibility where you can get one-on-one assistance with identifying and fixing accessibility issues on your website.

  • Friday, September 7, 2018, 2 – 4 p.m. Cheek 100
  • Friday, February 1, 2019, 2 – 4 p.m. Cheek 100

Web Press open lab relocated for summer 2018

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The Web Press open lab held every Friday has been relocated to the office of web and new media in Meyer Alumni Center suite 601 through Friday, August 10, 2018.

The regularly scheduled time of 2-4 p.m. remains in effect.

More information

Please contact the web help desk at 417-836-5271, weekday afternoons, or webpress@missouristate.edu if you have any questions.

Tune up your website on May 17

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When: 9 a.m.-noon Thursday, May 17
Where: Meyer Library room 106
Training: 9:30 a.m.

At 9:30 a.m. Brian Heaton and Kristeena Laroue will present a brief training session. Brian will cover the top five website accessibility issues. Kristeena will demonstrate access technology, so you can better understand how your website may be used.

After the session, you can grab a computer, discover accessibility issues and make corrections. Everyone that improves their website will be eligible to win a prize. The grand prize is free registration and travel to the Web Accessibility Summit in Columbia, Missouri, on May 30.

So stop in, have some coffee, fix some errors and help us celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day.

Free bonus

We will also give you some tips to make your website more search engine friendly, so your pages appear more frequently in search results.