Monthly newsletter from the UMaine Digital Communications for website managers. Contents of this edition includes an update on the delay in VPN requirement for website editors working remotely, Web forms and notifications, Training opportunities, Accessibility and inclusion and accessible document checklist

University of Maine Maine Digital Communications

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The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine General University of Maine Publications University of Maine Publications 1-19-2022 UMaine Website Owners and Managers, January 2022 update University of Maine Maine Digital Communications Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/univ_publications  Part of the Higher Education Commons, and the History Commons Repository Citation University of Maine Maine Digital Communications, "UMaine Website Owners and Managers, January 2022 update" (2022). General University of Maine Publications. 2295. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/univ_publications/2295 This Newsletter is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in General University of Maine Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact um.library.technical.services@maine.edu. View this email in your browserUMaine website managersCommunity update • January 2022You are receiving this email because you have an account in UMaine's publicwebsite system, WordPress. If you no longer manage web content, please contact usat um.weboffice@maine.eduIn this email:Welcome back for spring semesterUpdate: Delay in VPN requirement for website editors working remoteWeb forms and notificationsTrainings and consultations via ZoomUpcoming training datesTraining topics by appointmentAccessibility and inclusion: Accessible document checklistIf you have a question you would like to see answered, let us know.Quick links:User guide for UMaine websitesContact Digital Communications for supportUniversity of Maine System Digital Content Management guidelinesUMaine Website Owners and Managers — January 2022 update1 messageWed, Jan 19, 2022 at 9:59 AMUMaine Digital Communications <um.weboffice@maine.edu> Reply-To: UMaine Digital Communications <um.weboffice@maine.edu> To: University of Maine System Mail - UMaine Website Owners and Manage... https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=6098647e0e&view=pt&search=al...1 of 8 1/19/2022, 10:36 AMWelcome back for spring semesterWinter break flew right by for us, and this week we welcome new students in for thespring semester. This is a good time to review the list of user who have access toedit your website and remove anyone who may have retired or graduated at the endof 2021.To see the list of accounts with access to your site, select the "Users" link in the leftcolumn of your website dashboard. You may click "remove" on any user you want toremove, or email us at um.weboffice@maine.edu with a list of who you want toremove and we can remove them.Update: Delay in VPN requirement for website editors workingremoteThe plan to require VPN connection for website editors working remotely on thewebsite has been delayed after a brief test January 12-14. We will announce thenew date for this change in a future newsletter.We do recommend installing and using the campus VPN when working on yourwebsite, to ensure your work will not be disrupted when we do make this changeagain.If you are working off campus and have not already installed the University SystemVPN, you may do so by following these instructions from UMS IT.If you need assistance setting up the VPN, you can contact the IT Help Desk at:Email: help@maine.eduPhone: 1-800-696-4357Live chat: itsupport.maine.eduWeb forms and notificationsBy default, any web form created on the UMaine and UMaine Machias websiteshave an email notification that will send a copy of each submission to a predefinedaddress. These notifications can be useful for handling incoming requests. In orderto make the most of your email notifications, we recommend the following:Decide who should get email notificationsIn some cases, no one needs to be immediately alerted when a web form isUniversity of Maine System Mail - UMaine Website Owners and Manage... https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=6098647e0e&view=pt&search=al...2 of 8 1/19/2022, 10:36 AMsubmitted (for example, if the form is collecting feedback that is only reviewed at theend of a semester). If this is the case, you can turn off the notification altogether.Most of the time you do want someone to be alerted when a form is filled out. Thereare three options you may use to specify the recipient of the "Send to Email" option:Enter Email, Select a Field, and Configure Routing.Enter EmailYou can specify an email address to receive the notification by updating the "Send toEmail" field with an email address. Please remove the {admin_email} placeholderwhen updating the notification to reduce unneeded email traffic.Select a FieldThis option is appropriate to use when the notification should go to the person fillingout the form, also known as an automatic response. Your form must have an emailfield to use this option, and we strongly recommend you require an email addressfor form submissions when setting up an auto-response.Configure RoutingThis allows a notification to be sent to different email addresses depending on valuesselected in the form. This is useful if your form collects information that may needfollow up by different people.Customize the "From" name and email in the notificationBy default, a notification will be seen as coming from an email address associatedwith web form submissions. We recommend setting specific "from" information foryour notifications:Option 1: Use your name and email address (or name and address of yourdepartment/group). This will ensure that anyone who clicks "reply" will havetheir message sent to you and not our web server's default address.Option 2: Use the name and email address entered into the form. Thisoption is useful in that it allows you to click "reply" on an incoming email torespond to the person who submitted the form. If you use option 2, you mustuse the "Reply To" option to pick an email address from the form.With either option, the "From Email" field must be an @maine.edu email address, asthe emails are being sent from UMS servers.Customize the "Subject" of the notificationBy default, a notification has this as its subject line:New submission from {form_title}If left as-is, every email notification received will have the same subject line, whichUniversity of Maine System Mail - UMaine Website Owners and Manage... https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=6098647e0e&view=pt&search=al...3 of 8 1/19/2022, 10:36 AMmay not be helpful for your inbox.To improve this, we recommend adding a unique identifier (form variable) to thesubject line. You may find a list of form variables by clicking the drop-down icon tothe right of the subject line. In that list you will find your form's fields as you set themup. Adding the submitter's last name or company name may be helpful (as oneexample). If you are unsure of what to choose, the "Entry ID" option will add anumber that is specific to that form submission.For help in configuring your email notifications, consider our "Beyond the basics"website training where web forms are discussed, or email us atum.weboffice@maine.edu if you would like us to review your web form notificationswith you.Training and consultations via ZoomTrainings and consultations are conducted via Zoom videoconferencing. If you areunfamiliar with using Zoom and plan to attend an upcoming training session, pleaseensure your computer is set up to work with this technology. If you are unfamiliar withZoom to conduct team/committee/group meetings, their online tutorials arehelpful. For faculty who need help with adopting this technology for classroominstruction, training in using Zoom tailored for classwork is available from UMaine'sCenter for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, as is a helpful quick start guide forstudents.Upcoming training datesTraining is currently conducted via Zoom videoconferencing. More information aboutZoom is available.UMaine WordPress Basics: Alternating Thursdays, 10:30 a.m.–noonJanuary 20, February 3 and 17This 90-minute session covers the basics of using WordPress at UMaine — how tolog in, create pages, and edit header, footer, menus, and content blocks. Wewelcome anyone and everyone to join us for an orientation or refresher. Emailum.weboffice@maine.edu to join one of the upcoming sessions.UMaine WordPress Beyond the Basics: Alternating Thursdays, 10:30 a.m.–noonJanuary 27, February 10 and 24If you need to create web forms, event calendars, or side bar features on yourUniversity of Maine System Mail - UMaine Website Owners and Manage... https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=6098647e0e&view=pt&search=al...4 of 8 1/19/2022, 10:36 AMwebsite, this training is for you. In this 90-minute session we go beyond the basics ofcreating pages and posts, and focus on additional features you may find useful. TheWordPress Basics training is a prerequisite. Please email um.weboffice@maine.eduto register for one of the upcoming dates.Friday consultations: Every Friday, 1:30–2:30 p.m., 2:30–3:30 p.m. (two 1-hoursessions)January 21 and 28, February 4, 11, and 18 Two 1-hour time slots are available every Friday afternoon at 1:30 and 2:30 if youare interested in a website consultation on any of our training topics, or simply wantto review your website and brainstorm improvements. Email us atum.weboffice@maine.edu and we will work together to find a convenient availabledate. Zoom videoconferencing is available for these sessions. Training topics by appointmentThese training topics are available for our Friday consultations on request, and areheld via Zoom videoconferencing.Google Analytics WorkshopDo you know how much traffic your website receives? Have you looked at GoogleAnalytics for your website and don't know where to start? Digital Communicationscan create interactive data reports or dashboards with your website's data usingGoogle Data Studio. During the workshop we will work with your website to createfilterable dashboards to represent your website data in a way that is useful andmeaningful. Email um.weboffice@maine.edu to schedule this workshop for anupcoming Friday consultation slot.UMaine Map TrainingIf you need to depict points of interest on campus, across the state, or around theglobe, our UMaine map feature is worth exploring. In this training you will learn howto create individual map points, categorize map points together in a single map, andcustomize the map points by adding icons for easy visual identification. Pleaseemail um.weboffice@maine.edu to schedule.SEO WorkshopWhat is SEO? This jargon is an abbreviation for "search engine optimization," andour SEO workshops will explain what you should focus on to improve how yourwebpages are found by users of Google, Bing and our own UMaine sitesearch. Please email um.weboffice@maine.edu to schedule.University of Maine System Mail - UMaine Website Owners and Manage... https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=6098647e0e&view=pt&search=al...5 of 8 1/19/2022, 10:36 AMUsing Monsido to Improve Your WebsiteThe University of Maine System has provided a website tool to aid in the importanttask of managing the quality and accessibility of web content. Monsido scansUMaine websites, and interactive reports are available. If you want to learn moreabout Monsido's reports and how you may use its information to fix broken links, findmisspellings, and discover where content updates are most needed, emailmike.kirby@maine.edu to get started, and review your site's scan results.Creating Accessible Content for the WebAre you new to web accessibility and want to understand best practices for yourwebsite? Do you want to better understand how to write alt text, check color contrastratios and provide an accessible PDF for download? Digital Communications is nowoffering a two-hour crash course in how to ensure your digital materials for the weband website are accessible. During the workshop we will go over accessibilitytenants and have an opportunity to review some of the content on your website foraccessibility. Please email um.weboffice@maine.edu to schedule.Website consultationsIs your website helping you meet your goals? Do you want to make improvements,but do not know where to begin? We now offer "office hours" style websiteconsultation workshops, where we can meet to focus on your content and brainstormimprovements that can be made. Please email um.weboffice@maine.edu toschedule.Accessibility and inclusion: Accessible document checklistWeb accessibility has always been a requirement for UMaine websites, and hasbeen a regular feature in our monthly newsletter. Ensuring your content is accessibleis part of an inclusive communication strategy.If your website has documents such as PDF, Word, Excel or Powerpoint files fordownload and viewing, those files must also abide by web accessibility standards.Adobe Acrobat DC offers an accessibility checker, and through the University ofMaine System you can subscribe to this software at a cost of $123 per year. If yousubscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Acrobat DC is already included in thatlicense.The most straightforward way to ensure a PDF you create is accessible is to startwith a document that has been created with accessibility in mind. For this reason weoffer the following checklist that should help reduce problems with the documentsUniversity of Maine System Mail - UMaine Website Owners and Manage... https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=6098647e0e&view=pt&search=al...6 of 8 1/19/2022, 10:36 AMyou create.Accessible document checklistUse headings in descending orderAdd descriptive text to images unless purely decorative Check color contrast guidelinesNumbered lists for when content is in orderBullet point list for unordered contentTables and graphs are clearly labeled and all data is represented in writing asrepresented in-imageLinks are clearly labeledAdd page numbersUse sans serif fonts whenever possible (Calibri, Ariel, Helvetica,  Verdana); beconsistent with fontEnsure the font-weight is heavy enough so that someone with low vision canread itName files clearly to indicate the purposeOnly use underline for links, not for emphasis Tables: Table headers must be used/turned on. Tables can only be used fortabular data. Do not use it for formatting. Break up complex tables intoseparate simpler ones if needed, with a header row for eachSmall text is at least in 14 pt fontLarge text is at least in 18 pt fontIf you have any questions about web accessibility, or want to see us cover anaccessibility topic in a future newsletter, please get in touch with usat um.weboffice@maine.edu.We hope you have found this update from Digital Communications helpful.Feel free to forward this newsletter to a colleague:Forward this newsletterUniversity of Maine System Mail - UMaine Website Owners and Manage... https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=6098647e0e&view=pt&search=al...7 of 8 1/19/2022, 10:36 AMUniversity of MaineOrono, ME 04469207.581.1865umaine.eduThe University of Maine is an EEO/AA employer, and does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexualorientation, transgender status, gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information or veteran’sstatus in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handleinquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity, 101 North Stevens Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5754, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System).unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferencesUniversity of Maine System Mail - UMaine Website Owners and Manage... https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=6098647e0e&view=pt&search=al...8 of 8 1/19/2022, 10:36 AM

UMaine Website Owners and Managers, January 2022 update

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3295&context=univ_publications

UMaine Website Owners and Managers, January 2022 update

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