Resource tool available to aid offices, departments

By Doug Wenrich

Tired of searching for a copy of the IU Seal, Indiana University wordmark or photographs from IU's eight campuses to dress up your office or departmental Web pages?

There is a resource tool that can help you out.

The "Web Site Design Guidelines" are intended as a resource for developers of official departmental and office Web pages at IU's eight campuses.

The guidelines -- to be maintained by the Office of Public Affairs and Government Relations (PAGR) -- were developed earlier this year by a university-wide committee on technology. They do not apply to personal Web pages, student pages or faculty/course pages. They do, however, remind departments to identify their pages with IU and to link their sites to the IU home page.

"The primary goal is to assist in producing well-designed Web pages that define a positive visual identity to the millions of people who visit IU through the gateways of the Web," said Christopher Simpson, vice president for public affairs and government relations.

"Identity guidelines such as these help eliminate confusion by unifying and strengthening the image of the institution and its component parts while projecting a message of cohesiveness," he said.

Sections within the document will assist in accomplishing the primary goal:

• Usability Testing: This section walks readers through the crucial process of testing prototypes with prospective users.

• Resource Library: Since the Web is visual by nature, providing official icons and marks of IU will help create a cohesive and unified visual identity for the university. Included are high-quality versions of the IU seal, wordmark, block IU, campus logos, etc. The library also contains several digitized photographs from each IU campus.

• Campus-specific WWW Help Sites: Several links direct users to other resources and documents that are specific to Web activities at individual campuses. For example: The IUB WebMaster site and the IUPUI Web Guide provide in-depth guidance on a wide range of Web-related topics.

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