3.2 - Written Content/Messaging/Branding

Policy

Readability

All LU websites should embrace a writing style that engages our readers in a fluid conversation. Visitors must be able to find content easily, answer their own questions and find all pertinent information as intuitively and quickly as possible. 

Standards

Web visitors are task-oriented; they skim and scan, getting just enough information to get to their next destination. Tools like subheadings and bulleted and numbered lists help achieve these goals.

Each department must ensure content clarity, correctness, grammar, spelling, usage, accessibility, style and conformity with university naming conventions and branding. Links to external sites must open in a new window. 

See the federal government's website on using plain language on the web.  CMS users should work to minimize text because long paragraphs and complicated language are ineffective in web writing. Write minimal text, and write it at the 8th grade reading level.

Manual and Style

It is critical that all parts of the site use the university’s official visual identifiers (logos) and the university naming conventions and style outlined in the Lamar University Visual Standards Manual. Lamar University follows the Associated Press Stylebook.

See specific guidelines for headings, links, images and readability

See Appendix D - Using Siteimprove or QA Software regarding spelling, broken links and accessibility

Navigation - see the guidelines on navigation in Section 3.9