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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 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

  • 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  • No stale/outdated content.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

View our links documentation.

  • All link text should accurately describe the destination and make sense when read out of context.
  • Descriptive text is used for the link text rather than URLs.
  • Links do not open in new tabs or windows.
  • Ensure there are no broken links.
  • Avoid emulating link styles on non-linked text.

Text and Headings

View our headings documentation.

  • Use semantic markup to designate headings, lists, figures, emphasized text, etc.
  • Each web page should have a page title that is descriptive, informative, and unique.
  • Headings
    • Organize pages using properly nested HTML headings.
    • Headings have been created using heading styles, (e.g., Heading 2, Heading 3), rather than simply enlarging and/or bolding text.
    • A logical heading structure has been used so that subheadings have been designated and nested appropriately.
    • 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
  • Text size and spacing should remain default for accessibility.
  • Avoid using ALL CAPS in paragraph text.
  • Minimize the use of italics.
  • Contact information should be easily visible, typically in the site footer.

Color

View our documentation on Color and Contrast.

  • Text and background color have sufficient contrast on all documents and web pages.
    • Text (including images of text) must have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1.
    • For text that is at least 24px and normal weight or 19px and bold can have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1.
  • Color contrast for graphics and interactive UI components must be at least 3:1 so that different parts can be distinguished.
  • Information should not be conveyed using color alone.

Images

View our Image documentation.

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

Tables

View our tables documentation.

  • 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 merging cells.
  • Empty cells should be identified with labels like “no data”, “blank”, “none”, or “not applicable.”

Documents

View our documents documentation.

  • No copyrighted materials, such as Journals, have been added to the site.
  • All documents meet accessibility guidelines.
  • No scanned PDFs.
  • Proper heading styles and structure have been used throughout all documents.
  • The reading order is correct and logical.

Quality Assurance

  • Remove any empty elements (titles, links, or headings).
  • Ensure content fits within the screen without horizontal scrolling.
  • Ensure web page text can be resized up to 200% without any loss of content or functionality.
  • 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.