Web Guidelines

CSM's website is one of the primary ways that we communicate our message to the CSM community and external audiences.

It is vital that all CSM websites and pages are consistent in appearance and functionality. Our websites follow the branding guidelines, with a few exceptions, which are listed below.

These standards apply to all CSM websites, unless otherwise noted.

Colors

On all CSM websites, we adhere to the color palette included in the brand standards. Pay special attention to accessible color combinations for the web.

Fonts and Typography

Where possible, we adhere to the primary typefaces listed in the brand standards, utilizing Sentinel and Poppins.

Built-in Font Styles:

• Headline 1 (h1)

• Headline 2 (h2)

• Headline 3 (h3)

• Headline 4 (h4)

• Headline 5 (h5)

• Headline 6 (h6)

• Body text

Built-in Special Font Styles:

These styles may be found in Cascade under Formats > Custom.

Subhead Text

Highlighted Box

Quote

These styles should be used intentionally and sparingly to emphasize certain sections of text.

Accessibility

CSM strives to ensure that its services are accessible to people with disabilities. CSM has invested a significant amount of resources to help ensure that its website is made easier to use and more accessible for people with disabilities, with the strong belief that website accessibility efforts assist all users and that every person has the right to live with dignity, equality, comfort, and independence.

View Accessibility Statement

CSM's Web Team uses several accessibility scanning tools and can provide a report to you about your website pages.

Best Practices to Achieve Proper ADA Compliance

• Follow the Section 508 Standards and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1
• Test for accessibility using Wave: Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool
• Use descriptive ALT tags on all images
• Avoid placing PDFs on your site. Whenever possible, create a page or post to display information (or put it on an existing page if that makes sense) rather than uploading a PDF. PDFs are less than ideal because:
  • PDFs don't get indexed as well as HTML by search engines
  • Browsers don't automatically translate them into other languages
  • They can be a problem for people who use screen readers if not set up properly
  • You have to do all the work of putting alt text on images anyway
  • They aren't mobile responsive (not resizable by phones)
• Don't use tables for page layout. Tables should only be used to present data in a structured, tabular format. People with disabilities use alternative browsers such as screen readers and speech output browsers. Using alternative browsers on table-based websites can provide users with a problematic experience. Users of mobile devices also benefit from tableless websites. Please use DIVs as an alternative.
• Don't use "Click here" for links. Whenever possible, work links into sentences naturally.

Additional Policies

Domain Name Registration (GA 3007)

All new domain name requests will be made to the web services director. Requests will be evaluated by the procedures below and a recommendation will be made to the President’s Cabinet for final approval.  This policy applies only to domains developed within CSM’s organization.

View the Full Domain Registration Policy

Electronic Communication (GA 3009)

College of Southern Maryland employees with specific rights and responsibilities via their position descriptions and with administrator rights must adhere to the college’s e-Communication Standards to publish information on any official college website or any CSM-sponsored social networking site.

View the Full Electronic Communication Policy

Web Governance

Before a webpage is approved for linking from the institutional pages, the group represented must select a web editor who is responsible for maintaining its information and must meet the minimum requirements.

View the Web Governance Guidelines