The
following Guidelines are directed at our goal of current,
concise content.
Please check spelling and grammar on your revised content.
Content provided may be edited or rewritten as deemed necessary
by the Web Development Team.
Become very familiar with the existing
sitemap to avoid creating new content that may already
exist in some format, such as directories, maps,
program and course information, etc.
Choice of Content
The choice of new content to be added to the website should provide
at
least one these user benefits:
Provide primary users
with user-relevant information that:
Helps attract new students to MCC
Provides comprehensive information that primary users reference
frequently
Helps primary users in their everyday decision-making processes
Provide primary users with extremely
valuable functions that:
Make students' lives easier— save
time, no hassle functions
Increase productivity of faculty and staff
Provide users with 24/7 access to typical 9-5 information
and procedures
What is most frequently needed info for students? make
it top priority.
Tone and Style
Use a personal, informal tone.
Short sentences. Bulleted copy. The site/page should
provide a quick read...scanable copy.
Speak to the user as the user -- to
the students as students, to faculty as faculty. A variety
of voices can be used in website content -- what matters
is that you are speaking to the intended user.
Use words and phrases that are easily understood by the
user -- The student may have a difficult time understanding
why he or she should even go there.
When developing copy, try to limit the copy to a single
frame and try to avoid long scrolling pages. This may require
extensive editing, formatting or even restructuring to include
more individual pages. Longer pages may be required, but
should be deeper content of 3rd level or deeper.
The first page of any content section should provide the
user with a brief overview of the content contained in that
section. An introduction and listed/linked items to content
to be found in section (with description if needed).
Mission Statements are a valuable
tool for keeping your goals in mind — but doesn’t always communicate
the information that the user needs or the services that
you provide, if you’d like to post it on the site,
avoid making it the introduction to a section.
Remember, a website user does not use
the site in a linear fashion. He does not begin with the
first page and end with the last page. He jumps in and
out of the site when and where he needs to. Be sure that
key points in new content are repeated and linked from
several pages.
Make sure that repeated references
to specific information be named the same in each reference…for instance “Class
Schedules”, “Schedule Locator” both link
to Search For Classes.
