Saint Mary's College- Web Standards & Guidelines

There are numerous font styles and colors available to you on the World Wide Web...but that doesn't mean we have to use them...!

Trendy fonts and wacky colors, especially used together, can tire and strain the eye, and are a guaranteed way to turn-off even the occasional viewer of your site.

Remember: Your content
SHOULD NOT have to fight
to be seen!

Below are font & color guidelines to follow when developing a web page on the Saint Mary's College Website.

Fonts:

San-serif type faces best complement this design. Verdana would be a first choice because it has been adopted for many pages of the College's site.

Arial, and Helvetica are secondary choices.

Accent and subheading type should be displayed in bold, using a choice of color:

#003366 Saint Mary's Blue (Dark)

#336699 Saint Mary's Blue (Light)

Body text should generally be displayed in black. 12 point type is used, which suits a wide viewing audience.

But...

...that is not to say that judicious use of tables and complimentary colors can't be used. For instance, this portion of text (below) has been boxed and highlighted to stand out and draw attention.

A note about type:
We all recognize that type that is too small is not readable; likewise, type that is too big is difficult to follow in running text. In the print world, we try to find a happy medium for running body type; we also limit our line lengths to no more than what is displayed on this page.

It's a proven fact that longer line lengths strain eye muscles and make for more difficult reading because of the prolonged motion required.

Background color for the portion of the page that is yours to use should be the white you see behind this type. The code is #FFFFFF This color is suitable for access by those with disabilities associated with blindness and provides plenty of contrast with blue and black type.

If you choose not to use it, please use a light background, which will ensure you provide contrast.

Links

Links are specified as #003366--this matches the dark blue color on the navigation graphic.

FYI: link colors can be changed in Dreamweaver under Modify > Page Properties.

How this site is set up...

The pages in this site provide the details and resources for you to create official websites within the Saint Mary's domain.

The links on the left side of these pages will guide you through the basic design expectations for your site. We hope that you will refer this document as you maintain your website.

Included are step by step instructions on how to apply a custom graphic header to your pages, or if you would feel more comfortable requesting assistance, please submit the "Redesign Request Form".

This is an on-going resource--additional information and will added to this website in the future, so please bookmark the URL and check back often.

For clarification about design and content issues, contact: webstandards@saintmarys.edu

For clarification on technical issues contact: webmaster@saintmarys.edu