Drupalites, we have several important announcements for you - of particular importance, is the Need to Know section.
TOPICS COVERED IN THIS COMMUNICATION
Need to Know
- Video Requirements
- Site Content Courtesy
- File Versions
- Accessibility: Heading Tags and Heading Styles
- Search: Internal Basic Page Content Type (Action Required by 11/1/17)
- University Catalog
What's New
- NEW Events Calendar
- Https Address Update
Website Audits and Re-Audits
- Website Homepage Audits (Action Required by 10/15/17)
- Academic Departments: Required Panes Audit
- Google Forms Re-Audit (Action Required by 12/22/17)
IMPORTANT DATES
|
CATEGORY |
DETAIL |
DUE DATE |
|---|---|---|
|
Compliance Standards |
Required compliance updates provided from recent audits will need to be made to your website. (If this date is not any option, please send an alternate date.) |
10/15/17 |
|
Search |
New internal content conversion from basic pages to internal basic pages. | 11/1/17 |
|
Forms |
All Google Forms will need to be converted to Qualtrics Forms. | 12/22/17 |
NEED TO KNOW
Be Aware of Video Requirements
So that videos presented on kent.edu websites are accessible for our end users, if the video host allows, provide closed captioning on your videos. If this is not available, instead transcribe the video and provide a link to the transcribed content. Videos are considered content and therefore must be captioned for accessibility purposes.
If you have many videos or plan to expand your video use, you might consider partnering with a vendor who provides transcription services. Kent State has worked with and to support this initiative.
Review additional captioning information
Be Courteous of Another Site’s Content
If you use an image from the image library, please do not replace the image or change any of the text fields associated with it. If you do, you are overwriting the information for everywhere that image is being used. The image was added to the site by another site and you would be overwriting their information. If the text fields need changed for your specific site needs, you need to upload the image again.
Be Mindful of File Versions
If you need to replace/update a file (uploaded image for use in page body text, PDF, Word, Excel, etc.) in Drupal because you no longer want users to find the current version, please search for the file in your group dashboard.
- Select the Edit link
- Select the Remove button by the thumbnail preview to delete the current version.
- Once it is removed, select the Browse button to locate the new file to upload.
- Once you Save the file it will be updated.
- All links that are linked to the node ID will be intact and users will see the correct file when it opens.
As always, be sure to link to the file’s node ID; users will then see the updated file.
If you want to keep the current file for archive purposes you should create a new file for the new version.
Heading Tags and Heading Styles to Improve Accessibility
Heading styles have been added to the body and summary fields. If you want to change the appearance of a heading as it appears on the page (for instance, you want a Heading 2 to have a Heading 4 style). For accessibility purposes, the proper heading tag must be reapplied to the text AFTER selecting a heading style.
Heading Style Instructions
Please follow these instructions to change the heading style appearance:
- Highlight the text.
- Select “Heading 4” from the Styles dropdown to make the text look like a Heading 4.
- Select “Heading 2” from the Format dropdown. It will change the text appearance back to the default Heading 2 style, but it will retain the Heading 4 style when the page is saved.
It is imperative that the heading tags continue to be selected from the Format menu for accessibility, regardless of the style applied to it.
Last Call … Search: It Is Every Webmaster’s Responsibility
Your First Role in Improving Search Relies on ADHERING to NEW Internal Content Instructions
Does your site have basic pages that are not intended to ever be found as a stand-alone page? If so, they need to be converted to internal basic pages. The initial request was part of the May listserv request. There will be one final site-wide update Nov. 1. Please refer to the May listserv for details and instructions.
University Catalog
Please know that the URL for the University Catalog has changed. If your website links to academic programs in the catalog (even if you went through the website to get your links), you will need to change the site designation to get the latest information for academic year 2017-18.
To find the new URL:
- Visit
- Click on Programs A-Z in the top menu
- Click the appropriate program (e.g., Advertising - B.S., Latin - M.A., Religion Studies – Minor)
- Copy and paste the URL
Please know that roadmaps are now integrated with the program requirements; they are no longer separate documents. If you currently link to a roadmap PDF, please follow the steps above to link to the program in the catalog (which includes the roadmap).
Webmasters who have recreated program requirements and course descriptions on your own website, it is highly recommended that you to add a link to the catalog for the official requirements and course information, which may be more up-to-date and reflected in students’ degree audit. The course information in the catalog pulls directly from Banner and contains more course information than what students can see in FlashLine (outside of scheduling).
Please contact Therese Tillett, ttillet1@kent.edu, if you have any questions or are having difficulty finding your programs.
WHAT’S NEW
NEW Events Calendar
The new university-wide Events Calendar allows students, faculty and staff to stay up-to-date on events and activities by placing all of their events, globally, with one form entry.
PROMOTING EVENTS
Complete the event form for each event you would like added to FlashLine and your campus Events Calendar page.
- To improve the web visitor’s experience, the calendar is customizable in FlashLine where each university community member is able to select preferred calendar categories.
- On the public website at www.kent.edu/calendars, prospective students have the ability to filter on event category types to see what life is like at Kent State.
- This additional functionality allows individuals to take a closer look at the various extracurricular activities in which they are especially interested.
ADDITIONAL EVENT PROMOTION
Additional event promotion options are available as well, and they include these additional outlets:
- Displayed on your department website.
- Highlighted as a featured event on your campus home page and/or in the featured events section of the events calendar page.
- Designate as a FLASHperks event.
EVENT REQUEST INSTRUCTIONS
You may want to refer to the event instructions for more information the first time you complete the form.
NON-EVENT REQUESTS
Communications Request Form
PLEASE NOTE: The Communications Request Form is still used for these requests:
- University email
- Social media
- FlashLine notifications
- Non-event e-Inside articles
Welcome Https to All Website Addresses: What You See vs. What Visitors See
Before the end of September, the Kent State website address will always include https vs. http in its web addresses. Any links or pages with the http protocol will be redirected automatically to https. If you are logged into Drupal and want to view your page as an un-cached, logged out view — as your end users would view the page — you will need to either log out or open the page in a new window via a:
WEBSITE AUDITS AND RE-AUDITS
Website Homepage Audits
All Drupal websites were audited this summer to ensure compliance with new brand standards. If your site was missing required information at that time, your site’s primary administrator will be notified in a separate email indicating what actions are required to bring the site into compliance with the university's Web Guide to Standards. Complete instructions will be provided. Please be sure to make required updates your website by Oct. 15 If this timeframe is not an option, please send as an alternate date.
Academic Departments: Required Panes Audit
Academic departments may have noticed either a graduate studies and/or career pane on your sites.
The graduate studies pane, as shown on the Application Procedures for M.A. and Ph.D. Programs page, is required for all graduate programs per the university’s Guide to Web Standards — so it should not be removed from your site’s pages. It appears under your left navigation.
The career pane is content that is either added after your “Why ...” page’s body content— as shown on the Why JMC? page or it is the only content on your “Why …” page — as shown on the Why Speech Pathology & Audiology page. All academic departments are required to have a “Why …” page.
If you are missing either of these panes, please email Anne Palmieri, apalmie1@kent.edu the web address and indicate which pane is needed.
Google Forms | Re-Audit
In an effort to continually improve website accessibility for our website visitors who are using assistive technology, an web form audit was conducted to identify any outstanding Google Forms present on Kent.edu websites which have not yet been converted to a Qualtrics form.
Per previous notifications via the listserv and various campus presentations, all new online forms embedded in Drupal should be created using because that platform best meets accessibility requirements. Complete form building instructions are available in the Forms section of the Drupal Training Manual.
Based on the findings of this report, we will be contacting site administrators to provide you with the necessary information to finalize your form conversion.
Client Notifications
You will be notified by a web team member if your website was flagged as containing a Google Form. All Google Forms will need to be replaced in Drupal with a Qualtrics form by Dec. 22 to meet the university accessibility standards.
Some Caveats
If your form was created before January 2017, a conversion may have been done and you may simply need the UCM team to grant you access to the replacement form, while also verifying your website links correctly to this accessibility-approved version. So if you have an older form or you are unsure about whether your form requires this effort, please work with the web team member who contacts you to verify next steps.
QUESTIONS
If you have any questions, please contact Lin Danes at ldanes@kent.edu.
Thank you and have a good week,
Web team