Web Governance

Web Advisory Team

 

Web Governance Strategy

Version 5.4, 04.16.26

Guiding Principals 

• Our visitors come first
• All of our work, from content to design to allocation of resources is created with the needs of our audiences in mind
• Brand-consistency
• Alignment with college mission and strategic goals

Audiences 

The primary target audience for mjc.edu and gocolumbia.edu are prospective students. In particular, the homepage and most visible navigation are intended to share with potential students what makes the colleges unique, encouraging them to enroll.

Pages deeper in the site might serve different audiences. These audiences include:

• Current students
• Faculty/staff/administrators
• Community partners/employers
• Alumni/donors

For every page, it’s essential to consider: who is the primary audience for this page? What action do I want my audience to take here?

Ownership

Site

The websites yosemite.edu, gocolumbia.edu and mjc.edu are the sole property of Yosemite Community College District (YCCD) and the respective colleges. While faculty and staff will have access to edit, create and remove content, the site and all sub-sites remain the property of YCCD and Columbia College and Modesto Junior College.

Content

• The Web Advisory Team Lead assigned to a section of the website is responsible for the quality (accuracy and timeliness) of content published (mjc.edu/(section)/)
  • Inquire with the Front End Web Developer for Web Advisory Team Lead assignments.
• The existence of a page is an implicit commitment to serving its visitors by keeping the content up-to-date and relevant. 
• If a page is not being maintained, and contains outdated information, it will be unpublished in accordance with the web archive policy.

Goals/Objectives 

Web Management Team

The Web Management Team will be responsible for the day-to-day management and administration of the website. The Management Team is comprised of representatives from the Marketing & Public Relations and the YCCD IT Enterprise Application Department:

• Front End Developer, YCCD: Joshua Sigman
• Director of Marketing & Public Relations, YCCD: Jeanette Fontana
• Graphics & Marketing Coordinator, YCCD: Courtney Osako
• Systems and Programming Analyst, YCCD: Brian Hill
• Director IT Enterprise Applications, YCCD: Joseph Macklin

Web Advisory Team Roles & Permissions

The Web Advisory team is made up of Content Creators and Content Editors.

• Content Creators have approval over and responsibility for the digital presence and content appearing on the web pages they manage and the digital presence of their unit. They have access to upload photos, create new pages, and add all snippets and components.
• Content Editors work with the Content Creators to ensure web content is up-to-date and accurate for page visitors. The Content Editor role has access to revise existing web pages and limited access to other content creation functions. Editors should coordinate with Content Creators to add content to the pages they manage.

Content Creators and Content Editors should work with the Office of Marketing & Public Relations to ensure brand, messaging, accessibility and information architecture standards are used and to provide the best overall user experience when proposing major changes such as:

• URL or Page Title changes
• Use of snippets
• Creating new pages or sections
• Embedding widgets or tools
• Calendars
• Large-scale projects

Training & Education 

Access to edit mjc.edu will be provided to web Content Creators and Editors upon completion of the initial training session provided by the Office of Marketing & Public Relations. This session will review use of web templates, accessibility, permissions, editing, adding and deleting content on mjc.edu.

Access to upload PDF files is available to Content Creators contingent upon completion of Accessible Document training.

Visual Content

All content on gocolumbia.edu and mjc.edu should be developed in accordance with the college's Branding and Style Guidelines documents. Branding and visual content includes graphics, photos, images, and video as well as general visual content which includes logos, typography, and color. It is important that Yosemite Community College District maintain consistency when using visual content on the web, not only to better brand the institution but to create a seamless experience for the user.

Logos & Institutional Identity

All parts of the site must conform with the colleges' brand guidelines, including the use of logos, colors, and official marks. 

Editorial Style

All written content on the website must conform with the editorial guidelines of Yosemite Community College District, Columbia College and Modesto Junior College.

Web Images

Photography Style

Photography should be naturalistic, capturing the authentic interactions among a diverse set of students, staff and faculty at Yosemite Community College District, Columbia College and Modesto Junior College. Use photography that shows our community engaged and active in discussion, study, or academics. Environmental photos should give a sense of place and showcase YCCD's beautiful campuses. Yosemite Community College District has students and faculty from around the world, studying in different modalities—our photography should represent that global and modern viewpoint.

Image dimensions will depend on the structure of the web page and properties. All Yosemite Community College District images follow the photo requirements of the website template.

Graphics

Graphics created as posters, flyers, or social media posts are generally not appropriate for use on YCCD websites. If included, all text information should be included as text on a page. Please consult with the Office of Marketing and Public Relations if you need to include a graphic on your page. To ensure we maintain graphics and accessibility standards across yosemite.edu, gocolumbia.edu and mjc.edu, all non-approved graphics will be removed from the website.

Images and photos are encouraged on YCCD’s websites as they provide additional context and visual interest to the pages. Professionalism and presentation are important when choosing the images because they are a reflection of the College, its programs and departments. Images that do not meet the following standards will be removed from YCCD websites. Questions about specific images may be directed to your web developer.

• Photo Content: YCCD Marketing & Public Relations Team maintains a library of campus photos. A campus photographer may also be available to take new photos for your pages. Faculty and staff who need assistance should submit a request via the Public Relations Request Form. Images taken by your department must be high-quality, clear, professional, well lit, and reflect YCCD’s departments and programs in a positive and professional light.
• Formatting Photos: Photo’s should be saved as high-quality JPG format. Images should not exceed 1200px in either dimension, and should not exceed 500kb. If you have any questions about formatting images for use on mjc.edu, please contact the Front End Web Developer.
• YCCD Logos: YCCD’s logo is incorporated as part of the branding on every page of yosemite.edu, gocolumbia.edu and mjc.edu. Please do not include additional copies of YCCD’s logo within your page content.
• Other Logos: Department logos may be used within headers or as in-set graphics. Partner organizations logos may be included on a page when necessary. Logos should be small, clear images on a transparent or white background. Multiple logos should be arranged neatly and scaled to appear the same size. All logos must also have an alt text attribute containing all text that appears within the logo.
• Graphics, flyers and illustrations: Any image containing a significant amount of text, or structured data such as an event title, date and location, is not appropriate for use on mjc.edu. Information should appear as text content on a page, rather than within an image. Infographics and illustrations are not to be used without prior approval of the YCCD department of Marketing & Public Relations. Please complete the Public Relations request form to request a graphic for your page.
• Copyright rules: Content editors must understand and comply with copyright law. If you don't know who owns an image, or if you have not been granted express permission to use an image, you may not use it. If you have any questions about the origin of an image, please contact your web developer.
• Alt Text for Accessibility: All images must use a descriptive alt text attribute to describe the image for blind and vision-impaired visitors. For example, "Photo of Columbia College Students performing experiments in a chemistry classroom" or "Photo of Dr. Petey Blackbeard". All graphics containing text must have a representation of said text in either the alt or title attribute.

Communications Image Resources

The Office of Marketing & Public Relations team at YCCD maintains a library of digital assets with photography from yearly events and any photoshoots we host. Content managers can request an image(s) from the archives by submitting a request on the Public Relations web page.

Our photo library is not exhaustive, however. The Office of Marketing & Public Relations team at YCCD can purchase stock photography when needed on a project-by-project basis. All photos of students published on YCCD websites should be current or former Columbia College or Modesto Junior College students. YCCD will not use stock photos to depict students. Any stock photos published in this manner will be removed.

Cover Photos

The Office of Marketing & Public Relations selects hero photos for departmental websites. These may be rotated out at the change of a semester or at the end of the year. If you would like your hero photo changed, please submit the request through the request form on the Public Relations web page . Web editors are responsible for all other photos on their pages in accordance with Yosemite Community College District guidelines.

Staff, Leadership & Faculty Profile Photos

To ensure a uniform, professional appearance when viewing staff profiles, official portraits are required. Faculty members can use their own pictures though official portraits are available upon request.

Accessibility and Compliance

It is critical to make the YCCD site accessible to all users. When adding photos, fully complete the “Alt Text” field so that those who are visually impaired and using text browsers are able to understand what the picture or illustration depicts. With few exceptions, graphics containing text should not be used on the website.

Video

Video content must complement existing materials and adhere to Yosemite Community College District’s branding and accessibility standards. Videos should also be consistent in style, tone and message.

• Video content must be hosted on the YCCD or District YouTube channel and must be embedded using the approved ModernCampus YouTube Embed Component to enable all responsive and accessibility features. 
• Yosemite Community College District and YCCD manage a curated Youtube channel (@modestojuniorcollege209) for videos about our community, students, and scholarships.
• Video created by third-party vendors must be vetted by the Office of Marketing & Public Relations for accessibility and compatibility with YCCD.edu web technology before inclusion in the website.

Audio

Audio-only content is not appropriate for use on mjc.edu.

Documents

As a best practice, content on the Yosemite Community College District website should be created as website content: this approach is most likely to support a good user experience as well as meet our accessibility requirements. The Yosemite Community College District website is designed to be mobile-friendly, optimized for search engines, and compliant with all requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

• All web page content must appear as text content directly within the web page, not embedded in any formatted document type including but not limited to DOC, XLSX, PDF, JPG, GF, PNG).
• Forms should be created using Office 365 Forms tools. If additional functionality is required, Jotform and Etrieve are available options. Please consult with YCCD’s Front End Web Developer with questions.

Interactive Content

Will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please contact your web developer to discuss your project.

Accessibility 

As part of Yosemite Community College District’s commitment to providing access to higher education for all members of the diverse communities of our service area, YCCD has a distinct interest and responsibility to post information in formats that reduce barriers to accessibility. The YCCD website complies with WCAG 2.1 AA standards.  

Content and documents posted to YCCD controlled websites are to be posted in the most accessible manner feasible, and in the format most appropriate for the purpose and intended audience of the information.

Due to the complex nature of ensuring accessibility of online documents of various types, the Office of Marketing & Public Relations strongly advises that information be posted on web pages in HTML format only. All other formats will be subject to review. Content not in compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA standards will be removed from the website.

Headings

Page content should be organized using a system of hierarchical headings. Each heading should be concise and descriptive of the content that follows it. Subheadings should follow top-level headings if they further break down the content into greater specificity. Heading styles should never be used to style non-heading content.

Images

Images containing text or graphics must be created to comply with all WCAG 2.1 AA standards. The Office of Marketing & Public Relations can guide you in creating accessible graphic content.

Images containing more than 12 words, or with any structured text content should not be used. Instead, all text, including text in the graphic should be included on the page.

All images must include complete and comprehensive alt text, fully describing the contents of the image and including all text and information included in any graphic. Custom image buttons may not comply with accessibility requirements and should not be used. 

Styles

A variety of accessible styles will be available within the Modern Campus WYSIWYG editor. Custom fonts, colors and styles are not approved for use on yosemite.edu, gocolumbia.edu or mjc.edu. 

Tables

Tables should only be used for tabular content and must include proper header rows and aria tags to ensure that they are accessible. Please consult your web developer before adding any table to your page.

Review & Revision

All content contributors are required to review and update content they are responsible for at least once per semester for timeliness and accuracy. The Office of Marketing & Public Relations will monitor page updates for non-compliance. Everyone in the college community is responsible for reporting inaccurate, outdated, inappropriate, or poorly developed web content.

Gocolumbia.edu and MJC.edu are the largest outreach tools and sources of information for Columbia College and Modesto Junior College's target audiences making the timeliness and timelessness of the information published primary importance.

Outdated, incorrect, or obsolete content must be removed immediately.

The Office of Marketing & Public Relations may at any point suggest design, photo, video or content changes and the area or content contributor must work with Office of Marketing & Public Relations to update the content.

Content Type

• Timely content is content relevant to students or prospective students in the current semester or the upcoming semester.
• Timeless content is content that does not change or changes very little from semester to semester.
• Historical content should be removed from the website and archived elsewhere.

Content Management

The web content management system of mjc.edu, Modern Campus CMS, provides varying levels of access and approvals, allowing fine-grained management of content posted to the site.

• All new pages require approval by the Office of Marketing & Public Relations before first publish to confirm compliance.
• All content on yosemite.edu, gocolumbia.edu and mjc.edu should be created and maintained within Modern Campus CMS.
  • Content created in Microsoft Word or other rich-text editors can include hidden extraneous HTML tags which can interfere with website brand consistency and accessibility.
• Content created and hosted on non-approved third-party platforms, embedded via JavaScript or iframe is prohibited. Any links to non-approved content or third-party sites will be removed.
• Web Advisory Team members and their corresponding Department Deans are responsible for ensuring all web content under their supervision is up to date and in compliance three weeks prior to the first date of instruction of each semester. Content that is inaccurate or out-of-date may be unpublished.

Non-Compliance

The Yosemite Community College District Office of Marketing and Public Relations has access to all areas of YCCD's websites. To ensure quality control, the office reserves the right to alter content as needed for clarity, grammar, spelling, usage, accessibility compliance and style. The office may also make changes to ensure conformity to institutional naming conventions and branding, adjust content that does not meet acceptable use guidelines or the standards outlined in this policy, and remove users who are not complying with or contributing positively to the goals of the yosemite.edu, gocolumbia.edu and mjc.edu.

Web Governance Document Agreement Form