Working With External Vendors or Freelancers

Departments or programs that lack the staff, time, or technical expertise to build or maintain a website may hire an external vendor or freelancer. Contact the SOM Web Team before beginning the hiring process. The Web Team offers free consultations for web projects and can help determine whether external support is necessary.

We strongly discourage customized sites, as they can be difficult to maintain and often require specialized skills and knowledge for updates and troubleshooting.

General Guidelines

• Notify the Web Team early in the process, ideally before hiring a vendor, to ensure alignment with School of Medicine (SOM) web standards and to prevent delays.
• The SOM Web Team must be involved in the design, review, and launch phases for any project involving an external vendor or freelancer.
• The department or program is responsible for managing contracts, budgets, timelines, vendor communication, and deliverables.
• External vendors, freelancers, and contractors can manage content but cannot serve as the primary site administrator.

Design and Development Considerations

• External vendors, freelancers, and contractors must follow all SOM web standards.
• Custom designs and code are strongly discouraged. Customized sites often require advanced HTML and CSS knowledge which can complicate updates and long-term support.
• Vendors must not introduce custom code or third-party integrations without prior approval from the SOM Web Team.
• The Web Team is not responsible for supporting, troubleshooting, or maintaining custom elements or third-party code. Maintenance of custom elements and designs must be managed by the vendor or site’s administrators.

Documentation and Handover

• All project work should be thoroughly documented to support long-term site management.
• Site administrators should receive appropriate training or documentation from the vendor to maintain the site after the engagement ends.

Vendors should never be given unrestricted access without oversight. The Primary Site Administrator remains responsible for ensuring vendors follow accessibility and branding requirements.