Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾
Why is web governance important?
Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾'s websites are the public online face of our university. For many visitors, a website visit is their first Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ experience. For this reason, it's important that our audiences have positive experiences that are welcoming, accessible, and answer their needs. In support of this goal, our web governance structure exists to provide clarity regarding roles and responsibilities related to the maintenance and development of Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ websites.
Note: This is a working document and is subject to change.
Guiding principles
Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾'s digital standards
Our digital standards provide an overview of the criteria for creating and managing Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ websites and online services in areas such as accessibility, website security and protection of users' data, usability best practices, and site optimization.
Related legislation
Web governance structure
Our web governance structure oversees and supports public sites created using Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾'s centrally supported web systems including:
Additional platforms may be added in the future.
Roles and responsibilities
Unified web team: Digital Communications & Web Services Group
Governance of Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾'s websites is overseen by Communications and Institutional Relations' Digital Communications team, supported by IT Services' IT Communications - Web Services Group and Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾'s Web Advisory Committee.
As a unified web team, Digital Communications and the Web Services Group design and manage the Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ homepage and top-level pages, and provide guidance and support to website managers and administrators throughout Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾.
Digital Communications
Primary strategic direction for Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾'s sites and assets is led by Digital Communications working closely with the Web Services Group.
Web Services Group
IT Services' IT Communications - Web Services Group provides and maintains Â鶹´«Ã½Íøվ’s Web Management System (WMS).
Web Advisory Committee
A standing committee of stakeholders from across the Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ community that meets monthly to:
- Review the health and status of Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾'s web ecosystem in areas such as accessibility, information security and privacy, and branding.
- Make recommendations for improving our web governance structure and framework based on their findings.
- Propose courses of action for dealing with compliance concerns.
Web Advisory Committee membership
- 2 members Communications and Institutional Relations
- 2 members IT Services
- 2 student representatives (1 graduate and 1 undergraduate)
- 2 faculty representatives (1 faculty member and 1 staff member)
- 1 accessibility representative
- 1 central services representative
- 1 Macdonald Campus representative
- 1 research representative
- 1 Student Life and Learning representative
Campus community: Website administrators, managers and content creators at Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾
The roles and responsibilities of campus community members include:
- Completing the required training courses
- Following the website guidelines and best practices outlined on the Web Services website, e.g. Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾'s digital standards
- Following the guidelines outlined in the Policy on the responsible Use for Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾'s information technology resources
To gain access to edit or manage Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ websites, campus community members must also complete the
Important considerations for owners and sponsors of custom or vendor-built websites
When choosing to create a custom or vendor-built website you are accepting responsibility for compliance with all legal and institutional requirements. Any site managers you nominate will be accountable to you concerning compliance with the digital standards and other requirements. Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ assumes no responsibility for the construction or maintenance of these sites.
For information about requirements, see our custom or vendor-built project toolkit