Introduction to NMSU Web Standards and Guidelines

Owned by Melissa Chavira
Last updated: Apr 28, 2023
2 min read

The NMSU Web Standards and Guidelines were created to help provide a consistent set of standards that the collection of NMSU websites can follow. The standards include visual elements, compliance standards, and guidance for website structure and content as well as other items to ensure that our web presence is accessible by the widest possible audience and allow for a consistent user experience.

The development of the NMSU website is an extensive undertaking and major investment in enhancing the university’s electronic image. The Marketing and Communications Office (MARCOMM) and all departmental web liaisons, publishers and contributors work together to maintain the NMSU web presence.  It is important that as a campus community we maintain nmsu.edu and all its sub-sites according to best practices. The web standards and guidelines provide a collaborative, centralized governance of the ongoing development, deployment, delivery, and maintenance of the NMSU digital image. Our goal is to ensure all official webpages, social presence, and other digital displays representing the university have a consistent presentation and representation of the NMSU brand.

Adoption and Administration of Standards and Guidelines

MARCOMM and university officials, including the Chief Privacy Officer and Chief Information Officer, are responsible for the final approval, adoption, implementation, and oversight of NMSU’s Web Governance standards.  They will work collaboratively with the Executive Digital and Web Governance Committee to establish, publish and implement Web Governance policy and associated SOP’s in addition to the web standards and guidelines.

Abbreviations

  • IE - Internet Explorer; Microsoft’s web browser. Specific versions may be indicated by a number following; for example: IE6.

  • QAT - Quality Assurance Testing

  • CMS - Content Management System. Also refers to NMSU’s enterprise CMS, Cascade.

  • MARCOMM – Marketing and Communications Office.

  • SEO - Search Engine Optimization

  • XHTML - eXtensible HyperText Markup Language is a form of HTML, the language in which web pages are written.  XHTML follows XML conventions for well-formed code.

  • XML - eXtensible Markup Language is a markup language that defines a format this is both human readable and machine readable.