Guidelines for CSC Web Page




Jeff Peck
Jeff Hjelm
Jeremy Gordon
John Baldwin



These are the guidelines that we have agreed upon for the new CSC web page. These guidelines are based on the Ten Web Site Evaluation Guidelines developed by the class, which were made more specific for this particular situation. The following list contains the guidelines themselves. Where indicated, no change has been made to the original guideline.


1.) no change

2.) The site should use standard HTML, as defined by W3. The pages should be readable by all browsers, including text browsers such as Lynx.

3.) no change

4.) The use of graphics or image maps to serve as link indicators will be avoided. Such devices can be misinterpreted or might conceal the true purpose of the link.

5.) no change

6.) The use of colors will be minimized, and restricted to at most 4 colors. The font type will not be set, so that the default of the browser will be used.

7.) Every page will include: a "last updated" link; an email contact; links to key or complimentary sites within the department or SMSU.

8.) The use of GAS (graphics, sound, animation) will be avoided. GASes age quickly, are hard to maintain, are annoying, and may distract the user.

9.) no change

10.) no change


It should be noted that these guidelines discourage graphics, however, we agree that a department logo would be acceptable. The logo would be small and unobtrusive, and might be placed on all department pages.


Concerning terminology, we don't think that any special consideration is necessary, as long as all pages are consistent with each other. Documentation should consist mainly of a list of changes and any relavent comments in the HTML code itself, which shouldn't be very many, because this code should be very basic. Concerning hierarchy structure, the pages should be arranged in a short, broad tree structure, such that any page can be reached with as little clicks as possible. We suggest that every page should contain a navigation bar at the top of the page. The navigation bar should contain a portion that contains a core set of links that is the same for every page. This core set of links might include a link to the CSC main page, the SMSU page, etc. In addition to these core links, the bar will contain links that are relavent to the particular subject matter begin displayed.