This document applies to St. John’s campus, Signal Hill Campus, Harlow Campus and Labrador Campus. See Grenfell Campus and Marine Institute for their campus specific web standards and procedures.

Roles and Responsibilities

The Division of Marketing and Communications (MarComm) is responsible for:

• developing and maintaining the mun.ca Web Template to ensure it meets accessibility, brand and web standards;
• providing guidance on web best practices to Units;
• providing end-user support for Memorial’s Web CMS;
• reviewing and approving all forms hosted on mun.ca-- see Procedure for Requesting Online Forms detailed below;
• providing guidance on information hierarchy and new Website development.

Units are responsible for:

• assigning Moderator roles within the unit to ensure its mun.ca Content is accurate, appropriate, up-to-date and in accordance with University policies, brand and web standards, and the Intellectual Property policy;
• linking to the authoritative sources on mun.ca rather than duplicating or re-creating Content;
• using the Web Templates available within Memorial’s Web CMS to build its mun.ca website, without modifying html code;
• ensuring Web Pages and forms collecting personal information contain a privacy notice approved by Memorial’s privacy officer.

Hosting, Domains, URLs

Memorial hosts Websitesfor Memorial University Units only. These Websites are hosted on a central server managed by Information Technology Services.

The URL standard for Memorial Websites is: www.mun.ca/name. Consistent use of our primary domain (mun.ca) delivers a consistent user experience and creates the expectation that all Memorial information can always be found under the mun.ca domain.

A domain name is often the first step in a user’s journey and is an indicator of a site’s Content and purpose. A well-named or trusted URL can influence whether users click on a Website listing in Search Engine results or in an advertisement, and can also help audiences easily recall a website address. Example: www.mun.ca/payment_methods vs. www.mun.ca/waystopay. MarComm reviews and recommends URLs to ensure they are effective in reaching targetaudiences and are not required for another purpose within the university. All requests for new URLs must be submitted through MarComm’s request for services form.

A “vanity URL” is a type that is often used in communications and/oradvertising campaigns. For example, the long running Got Milk campaign has https://www.gotmilk.com/. The preferred approach for campaignURLs at Memorial is to use a shortened URL that uses the trustedprimary domain, mun.ca, but can be customized for promotional purposes; for example, www.mun.ca/masterplan.

Shortened URLs pointusers to the final locationof a page within your site. These URLs are typically used when a URL is too long to include in ads, social media posts and other communications. A shortened URL keepsmarketing and communications pieces clean and succinct. URL shorteners may also be used, particularly for social media or in cases where the full URL does not need to be displayed. When building a site, consider the pages that you may use for promotional purposes as this will help avoid the need for shortened URLs in the future.

All mun.ca sites should be sub-folders rather than sub-domains. The use of subdomains is not recommended as they dilute as our primary brand (mun.ca), negatively impact Search Engine rankings and make it difficult to measure user journeys via web analytics. Exceptions will be considered; for example, sub-domains may be permitted to meet technical requirements.

Online Forms

All forms on mun.ca should be fillable online, not PDFs. All requests for fillable forms hosted on mun.ca must be reviewed by MarComm to first determine if the form can be built within the approved form solution offered by Memorial and approved by the University Privacy Officer to ensure any personal information being collected conforms with the Privacy policy. Privacy best practices include ensuring you have authority to collect personal information, minimizing the personalinformation requested so as to collect only what is necessary, and avoiding the collection of sensitive personal information. Form requests must be submitted through the request for services form. MarComm staff will determine form location, prevent duplication with other units’ existing forms, assist with user logic and ensure the forms are mobile-friendly.

MarComm will work with ITS and the requesting Unit to draft and finalizethe form. If the standard form solution cannot meet the needs of the Unit’s request,MarComm will work with ITS to review other approved solutions. Please note that third-party form tools like Google Forms or TypeForms are not permitted.

All forms collecting personal information must contain a Privacy Notice.

Requests for Web Service

All requests for web services must be submitted through MarComm’s request for services form. MarComm receives all requests for web services and responds to the majority of these using available resources within MarComm. Requests for web services include but are not limited to requests for user permissions, URLs, how to’s, Web Content Management System training, new or refreshed websites, new functionality and assistance with information architecture. When requests go beyond the current capability of the Web CMS or the available MarComm resources, MarComm reviews the requests for possible solutions, including working with its partners in the Office of the Chief Information Officer or external vendors.

Requests for custom web applications must be reviewed by MarComm and the IT Governance and Collaboration Council via an IT investment proposal. A custom web application is any request for functionality that does not exist in the current WCMS and/or the current web presentation options.

User Management Roles

New users – Faculty and staff who wish to be added to the Web CMS must fill out the request for training form.

Contributor – Units may choose to have one or more contributors to create, edit and delete Content. Contributors cannot publish Content. To ensure Content meets minimum requirements, all content is approved and published by the Website’s Moderator (see Moderator below).

Moderator – Each university Unit’s Website must have at least one and up to a maximum of three moderators. Moderators are responsible for approving or seeking approval of all Content published on their web pages, as well as ensuring that the presentation of Content follows web best practices, web standards, brand standards and the university’s policies. Moderators should work closely with MarComm for advice on web standards and best practices. Units that require more than three moderators should contact MarComm.

MarComm – All requests for web Content services are reviewed by MarComm to ensure the optimum solution is applied; to reduce duplication of effort; and to maintainsecurity standards, brand standards, web standards, accessibility standards and web content best practices.

Information Technology Services (ITS) – ITS is responsible for hosting Websites, databases, custom applications, the Web CMS and the infrastructure these operate on. ITS works with MarComm to deliver web services, with MarComm being the first point of contact for the University community’s inquiries. In cases where Units have programmers or developers that can self-manage some of these elements (in consultation with ITS), as long as the requisite security considerations (vulnerabilities assessments) have been made by ITS, this is an option to be considered to help promote efficiency.

Web CMS Training

Users seeking training must register for training on the MarComm website. There are a numberof options for training, including self-directed modules, and the options will be confirmed after registration.

Website Development

University Units interested in creating a new Website or considering updating one should first submit a request for services form. MarComm will contact the requestor within five business days of receiving the request to discuss and set up a development Website based on requirements. The Website creation process typically includes:

• Content clustering session to determine information hierarchy and site structure
• Confirmation of site contributors and moderators
• Review of Website analytics
• Selection of branded web templates, Content Types and widgets to customize Content
• Access to multimedia elements through the media library

Moderators are responsible for notifying MarComm when deactivating Websites created for a limited purpose, such as projects or Unit-organized conferences. If a project Website needs to be maintained beyond the project end date, the Moderator should notify MarComm and contributors should ensure the Content is regularly updated. Short-lifespan Websites with Content or topics that are no longer relevant will be archived, files given to the owner and then removed from Memorial’s web server.

Types of Websites

Memorial hosts and offers branded Web Templates for all academic and administrative Units. These templates are available within the Web CMS and will be offered during the Website development process. Websites that require additional functionality must be reviewed separately by MarComm and may require submission of a proposal to IT Governance. Example: blogs. For any specific needs in which the template does not address, please contact MarComm who will provide support, guidance, and navigation through the process as needed.

Course and teaching material is recommended to be placed in the University’s learning managementsystem, Brightspace. More information on educational technologies is available on the Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning website.

Faculty members can create professional bios or profileson their respective faculty or departmental Unit Websites and link to additional information, such as publications or research materials which should be hosted outside www.mun.ca.

Due to the high internal demand for MarComm services, the following types of Websites are not supported: external organizations’ conference Websites; professional and student associations, unions and clubs Websites; and research project Websites. 

For additional information on types of Websites supported by MarComm, please contact the Division of Marketing and Communications.

Internal Content

Consider your audience for each piece of content. If the Content only applies to faculty or staff, consider placing it on shared servers, or use other collaboration tools as listed on the OCIO website. This approach reduces the amount of information external audiences have to sift through on mun.ca to get what they want and it protects sensitive information. If it’s necessary to host internal Content on mun.ca, it should only be accessible via MUN Login.

Site Launches

Once a development Website has been populated and is ready for launch, site moderator(s) should submit a request for services form including site launch details and preferred launch date. Please note that MarComm requires a minimum of one-week notice to plan and schedule a site launch. Website redesigns that require structural changes, including redirects, will require additional time.

Analytics

MarComm manages web analytics for mun.ca via the Web CMS analytics dashboard, Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager. If you need access to analytics beyond what is available in the Web CMS, please submit a request for services form.

Applications: Custom or External

All external applications proposed for use on mun.camust be approved by ITS. Memorial has reviewed and approved the following externalapplications for use on mun.ca:

• Photo gallery: Flickr
• Social media: T4 solution
• Videos: YouTube for external-facing or public Content. Video-hosting solutions for content that cannot be shared openly are available through the Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning.
• Maps: Campus Maps, Content Type for maps within T4

Custom applications: Require IT Governance approval. Examples include but are not limited to: policy database, programs page, Cognos applications (finance and provost dashboards), COVID density calculator.

Prohibited Web Content

For reasons of site security, legal requirements and University policy, certain Content is prohibited, including but not limited to Content that:

• Displays or promotes pornographic or obscene material
• Promotes violence or the use of weapons, alcohol or illegal drugs
• Contains abusive or threatening language or imagery that targets individuals or groups
• Contains personalized attacks
• Ridicules or promotes stereotypes, discrimination, intolerance or hostility towards any race, sex, colour, ancestry, place of origin, ethnic origin, creed, marital status, gender identity, gender expression, family status, sexual orientation, age, disability or citizenship
• Publishes information to cause harm or which would reasonably be known to cause harm For more information, see the University’s Respectful Workplace Policy.

Privacy

Memorial usesweb analytics to collect and analyze information that supports university business processes, and displays privacy notices to alert site users to this.