Web Standards and Requirements

The following standards and requirements are for the University's Web templates and do not cover all standards and best practices for everything Web. University template users should follow the standards outlined here at a minimum and consult sources such as the W3C for more complete standards.

Template header and footer requirements

This section covers the required use of the template header and footer. Read more.

Text standards

Recommendations for both HTML and graphic text. Read more.

Color standards

Official electronic maroon and gold and recommended secondary colors. Read more.

Web coding standards

Using XHTML, page titles, and metadata; best practices. Read more.

Testing and validation

How to test and validate your Web site before launching it. Read more.

Accessibility and usability

How the templates can make your site accessible and usable. Read more.

Web policies

An outline of current University Web policies and how the templates address the policies. Read more.

Web standards checklist

See the Web publishing checklist and the Template modification checklist to make sure you've covered everything before publishing your site.

Begin with the Web templates

Even if you don't design or code your site using all template elements, you must use the bare minimum—the template header and footer—to reinforce the University of Minnesota identity.

Digital asset archiving

The University places value in preserving digital content that is of an historic or timely nature and, in some cases, the preservation of digital information is covered by the Managing University Records and Information policy. To find out more, see the Libraries’ Digital Conservancy Web site.