Web Standards

Individuals and groups associated with Oakton College may create Web pages that carry out official College business in support of its mission.

Contents of Web pages must be consistent with Oakton policies and local, state, and federal laws. This includes links to other pages or computers. Electronic publications are subject to the same College policies and standards as print publications.

Oakton resources may not be used to create Web pages for personal business or personal commercial gain.

Categories of Web Pages

There are four general categories of Web pages:

Oakton-hosted Public Pages

These are pages at www.oakton.edu; they follow the standard Oakton templates found in our Web content management system (Cascade.)

Oakton Pages Hosted with Off-site Vendors

These pages are hosted off-site but provide critical information or services (for example, the Web site “Intelliresponse” pages which allow users to submit questions). Generally, these pages are formatted to closely resemble Oakton-hosted public pages; in fact the viewer may not know the difference.

myOakton Pages

These pages are only viewable after logging in to myOakton

Personal Web pages hosted by Oakton

These pages are hosted by Oakton, and are edited on campus through the P: drive and
off-campus through Fileway. These pages are primarily intended to support employees’ work at the College.

General Web Standards

All pages need to follow these general Web standards:

  • Each page must have a specific content manager responsible for updating content, such as a department chairperson, department staff, or College Advancement. All links must be checked for accuracy/validity at least every six months and content should be up-to-date at all times.
  • Pages must use relative links to other Oakton pages.
  • Destination links must be obvious before clicking on them: use clear language such as Student Login IDs – not "click here" or "more ..."
  • Pages must conform to Oakton's responsible use policy.
  • Pages must conform to all of Oakton's policies, including those on sexual harassment, equal opportunity, privacy, and copyright. 
  • Links that lead to large documents or images should indicate file size.
  • Links to pages and sites outside of Oakton should have the following disclaimer:

Links to external web sites are provided as a courtesy; they should not be construed as an endorsement by Oakton College of the content or views of the linked materials.

  • Pages must refer to the authoritative source of information on Oakton's Web site. Don’t duplicate information available elsewhere (for example, don’t repeat tuition information on your page – instead, include a link to the official tuition page on the Oakton Web site.)
  • Official college release forms for images and video (available from College Advancement) must be on file.
  • All pages, PDFs, audio, and video must conform to Web accessibility standards, as well as any applicable legally mandated accessibility criteria based on the nature of the page.

Standards for Oakton-Hosted (official) Public Pages

In addition to the general Web standards, official public pages must:

  • Follow College Advancement’s Web style guide.
  • Post only employee degree/certificate listings verified by Human Resources.
  • Include only images and/or videos reviewed and approved by College Advancement.

College Advancement will review all pages and make changes to layout, “voice,” content, and grammar as appropriate to ensure conformity with the style guide.

Standards for Oakton Off-site Pages

In addition to the general Web standards, Oakton off-site pages must:

  • Be launched only in collaboration with the IT Department.
  • Replicate as closely as possible the design layout and standards of the public Web site.
  • Include a link back to Oakton's Web site.
  • Follow the same accessibility criteria as the public Web site.
  • Gain permission from College Advancement for use of the official logo.  Logo use on any off-site page is solely at the discretion of College Advancement.

Oakton will not link to any off-site page that has not been developed in collaboration with IT and approved by College Advancement.

Standards for myOakton Pages

In addition to the general Web standards, myOakton pages must:

  • Follow the Web style guide.
  • Be limited to information that (1) needs to be in a secure location, (2) contains information relevant to employees, current students, and/or specific sub-group of either larger group.
  • Not duplicate information that is on the public Web site (instead, link to authoritative existing information on the site.)

Standards for Personal Pages

In addition to the general Web standards, contents of any web directory (P: drive on campus) at Oakton must comply with these standards:

  • Personal web pages should preferably have some relevance to Oakton’s audience and relate to the College in some way.
  • Neither personal Web pages nor any file on Oakton Web space should promote personal business or personal commercial gain.
  • Pages should be up-to-date at all times.
  • They should have a clear link back to Oakton's Web site.
  • Pages must not contain confidential information about you or anyone else (this pertains to any files or folders in the P: drive).
  • All personal pages should identify the content manager and include contact information.
  • All personal pages should include the following disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the author. The contents of this page and the links therein have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by Oakton College.

While personal pages are primarily managed by employees and students, they are, in effect, “owned” by Oakton, and can be removed or deleted at the College’s discretion.

If you have any questions about these Web Standards, please write us at websupport@oakton.edu.