A departmental Web page represents not only the department but all of UW Bothell. It should be professional and consistent with the rest of the UW Bothell Web site. Please refer to these guidelines when working on your web page. When in doubt, please contact the Office of Public Relations and Communications for assistance.
The page's title should reveal exactly what content is on the page. Employ commonly used, simple, and concise language. All titles must be in Title Case.
Content should be grouped according to subject, time, audience, or other logical order. Try to organize content in a way that will make sense to your audience. In most cases, this means ignoring internal department reporting structures.
Use a consistent method of organization throughout your site.
Each block of text should be headed by an appropriate heading. Headings should be used consistently throughout the site (on every page) to give the content structure and to maintain organization. Follow the guidelines for Page Titles above to ensure that headings are appropriate.
Use Headings, Subheadings and Smallheadings as provided by the CMS. Do not create your own headings in the HTML as this leads to inconsistencies in the site's structure and appearance.
The text on each page should be interesting to the target audience. Do not include mundane details that could obfuscate the goal of the paragraph or bore the reader.
All copy should be relevant to the title of the page. Do not include information that is unrelated to your topic.
Make sure that all information presented is correct. This includes, but in not limited to, names, dates, locations, course information, policies and descriptive text. There is no instance where outdated or wrong information is acceptable.
Include all information needed about a subject. Include all relevant data. If some important information is unknown or yet to be determined, include all known facts.
The next newsletter will be sent this summer.
The next newsletter will be sent out soon.
Brevity is important in web writing. Do not say in 100 words what could be said in 50. Do not say in 50 words what could be said in 20. Accomplish this by tightening the language, being direct and cutting overly detailed information. Ask the following questions about your paragraph:
Transportation Services provides information about campus parking and alternative modes of transportation with the ultimate goal of reducing single occupancy vehicle trips.
Transportation Services provides transportation resources to the campus community with the ultimate goal of reducing single occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips to UW Bothell/Cascadia CC. Resources include an employee transportation coordinator dedicated to providing information and guidance to faculty, staff, and students for using alternative modes of transportation.
There should be absolutely no spelling errors in the text. Similarly, make sure there are no grammar errors. If unsure, ask someone or refer to the AP Stylebook. Have a coworker proofread your writing.
Images and photos should be used to add context, meaning or otherwise support the page text.
