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School of Medicine IT

Site Launch Checklist

You’ve built your website and are ready to share it with the world. Before going live, the School of Medicine (SOM) web team will review it for compliance.

Below is our pre-launch checklist, outlining the criteria used to evaluate your site. We recommend reviewing and addressing any issues before submitting your site for launch. The review process may take time and depends on the number of issues found and the length of time it takes you to fix them.

Brand

  • Adherence to SOM web branding guidelines.
  • No off-brand colors, fonts or font sizes unless they have been approved.
  • Consistent appearance across all pages.
  • Only official or approved logos can be used in lieu of the site name.

Usability

View our documentation on maintaining relevant site content.

  • No broken links.
  • No typos.
  • No stale/outdated content.
  • All forms function correctly and are configured to be emailed to the appropriate recipient.

Navigation

View our navigation documentation.

  • The left-hand navigation is present on sections with child pages.
  • Navigation is clear, consistent, and easily identifiable.
  • All pages share a consistent navigation structure.

Links

Learn about best practices for link accessibility.

  • All links have descriptive text (don’t use page URLs as link text).
  • Ensure that link text makes sense when read out of context. Avoid links like “read more” or “click here.” Be specific about where links will lead.
  • Links do not open in new tabs or windows.
  • Ensure there are no broken links.

Text and Headings

  • The page title should accurately describe the page.
  • Headings
    • Content should be broken into logical sections with descriptive headings.
    • Headings are styled using semantic markup, (e.g., Heading 2, Heading 3), rather than simply enlarging and/or bolding text.
    • Heading 1 is reserved for the page title and not used in body content.
    • Headings are used in descending order and levels aren’t skipped.
    • Headings are written in title case or sentence case.
  • Minimize text styled with underlines or colored blue as this can confuse site visitors as to what is a link
  • Ensure there is adequate contrast between text and it’s background.
  • Ensure web page text can be resized up to 200% as a minimum, and still be understandable without loss of content.
  • Text size and spacing should remain default for accessibility.
  • Avoid using ALL CAPS in paragraph text.
  • Minimize the use of italics.
  • Ensure content fits within the screen without horizontal scrolling.
  • Contact information should be easily visible, typically in the site footer.

Color

View our documentation on Color and Contrast.

  • Ensure all site content maintains adequate color contrast.
  • Information should not be conveyed using color alone.

Images

Learn about image accessibility.

  • There are no sliders or image carrousels.
  • Image file sizes should be 1 MB or less.
  • Alt text
    • Images include descriptive alt text that conveys their purpose.
    • Purely decorative images should have blank alt text.
    • Linked images must have alt text describing the link destination.
  • Images with text
    • Avoid text in images. If used, ensure image alt text or text on the page communicates the same information as the text in the image.
    • For graphs, diagrams or organizational charts, include text on the page to explain the meaning.
  • Any time images are used behind text, ensure there is sufficient contrast.
  • Do not use flickering or strobing images.

Audio and Video

View our documentation on video accessibility.

  • Videos must have synchronized captions.
  • Auto-generated captions must be reviewed for accuracy.
  • Allow users to control video (e.g. pause, rewind, etc.).
  • Audio recordings require transcripts.
  • Avoid using animated content that cannot be turned off.
  • Ensure media does not play automatically.
  • Iframes must have descriptive titles.

Tables

  • Tables should only be used for tabular data, not for layout purposes.
  • Tables include properly identified column and row headings.
  • Keep tables simple. Two simple tables is better than one complex table.
  • Avoid merged and empty cells; use clear labels like “no data”, “blank”, “none”, or “not applicable” instead.

Documents

View our documentation on document accessibility.

  • No copyrighted materials, such as Journals, have been added to the site.
  • All documents meet accessibility guidelines.
  • Avoid scanned PDFs.
  • Use proper heading styles and structure in documents.
  • The reading order is correct and logical. This is more likely to be an issue in complex documents with multiple columns or in forms.

Quality Assurance

  • Remove any empty elements (titles, links, or headings).
  • Verify that content and functionality remain accessible when text is resized.
  • Ensure the site is responsive and mobile-friendly.

Alt Language

View our Alternative Language documentation.

  • Define the language for multilingual pages

Search Engine Optimization

Review our top tips for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

 

For questions or additional information about any checklist item, please contact the Web Team.

Request a Review and Launch of Your Website

If you have reviewed the above checklist, resolved any issues, and are ready to launch your site, please submit a site launch request.