University Web Pages Policy

Last updated: July 16, 2025

Introduction

  1. This policy is published by the Office of Communications. Comments and suggestions are welcome and should be directed to Freda Moore, Director of Web Operations, freda@fdu.edu.
  2. Related Policies. Those responsible for content and development of FDU Web pages are also bound by related laws, policies, and guidelines, including:
  3. Violations will result in various sanctions depending on the infraction, ranging from notification to comply with no penalty to dismissal/expulsion in the case of repeated refusal to comply. The University reserves the right to remove offending Web pages immediately without notice, while alleged violations are reviewed.
  4. When a question arises about applicable policy or lack thereof relating to subjects such as website maintenance, design or suitability of content to be posted, the final decision will be made by the Office of Communications in conjunction with the Offices of Information Technology and the University Counsel if necessary.

Website Content

  1. The policy applies to any Web page published within domains that are registered to FDU whether or not the page is specifically marked with the University’s logo, name and/or copyright. For purposes of this policy, a Web page is taken to mean a page, suite of pages, website, or Web-based application, along with its associated forms, images, audio, video, and other Web media. The policy also applies when resources such as (but not limited to) Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, Google Sites, Wikipedia, or LinkedIn are used by an academic or administrative unit as a complement to FDU domain pages, and when “FDU,” “Fairleigh Dickinson University” or an FDU logo are used on a page. 
  2. Web pages within the fdu.edu domain are permitted to incorporate FDU-owned images. When a Web page outside the fdu.edu domain uses FDU images, the visible text on the Web page must acknowledge FDU’s copyright of a given image (or text). Text from FDU Web pages may also be reproduced on non-FDU Web pages, with appropriate attribution, although duplication of Web page content that visitors may find confusing or redundant must be avoided. Web pages that reproduce content of University Web pages (both within and outside fdu.edu domain) also must reproduce the content accurately, and update the content in a reasonable time when the original is updated. For instance, an outdated version of a course description must not be allowed to remain on an individual’s or a department’s Web page.
  3. FDU Web page developers must avoid any text or image that has the appearance of advertising or recommending a particular product or vendor, with the exception of University approved sponsorships and/or partnerships. Any proposed use of text, images, logos, trademarks, or similar materials belonging to a third party in a University approved sponsorship or partnership must be reviewed by the Office of Communications prior to use.
  4. To avoid expensive redundant efforts, the Office of Communications must be involved as early as possible in the development of any significant new FDU Web page.
  5. FDU’s Office of Communications and FDU’s Office of Information Resources and Technology are jointly responsible for selection and allocation of new domains in the fdu.edu domain space (e.g., online.fdu.edu).
  6. FDU’s Office of Communications provides and supports “content management systems” that allow Web pages to be maintained without knowledge of Web technologies like HTML, FTP and CSS. To ensure consistent navigation structures, Web pages will typically be created directly by Web Operations and then populated and maintained by Web page editors. Web page editors must attend training sessions in content management and follow the writing standards provided by the Office of Communications.
  7. Web page authors need to avoid substantial redundant content. University policies, tuition rates, calendars, maps, and directions must be linked to, not copied into, other sections of the FDU website.

Roles and Responsibilities

  1. The head of a given FDU entity (e.g., department, office, school, college, campus, project, center, institute) is responsible for the content of the entity’s Web pages irrespective of whether those Web pages are implemented on FDU Web servers controlled by Web Operations, on other FDU Web servers, or on Web servers outside FDU.
  2. FDU Web pages must not claim or imply scope or authority that they do not have. For instance, if the University has a given named office on more than one campus, each office must clearly mark its Web pages to indicate which office is represented; similarly for athletics (e.g., FDU, name of campus, name of sport). Every Web page must have enough identifying information so that if it were the first FDU Web page a visitor saw, the visitor would know what FDU entity is represented.
  3. The website maintenance needs of the fdu.edu website are met by the staff of Web Operations and a group of web editors, each assigned to one or more academic or administrative entities. The web editor(s) and/or members of Web Operations staff receive any email messages requesting information about the content of units’ Web pages, and requested changes are understood to be authorized by the head of the entity. 
  4. Development of a Web page must never be conceived as a one-time project, with no mechanism for ongoing maintenance. A University entity that undertakes development of a Web page undertakes to maintain that Web page in a usable, up-to-date condition or to request that Web Operations remove it. FDU Web pages will not in general be replaced with a Not Found message when they are no longer applicable. Instead, the former address of the page will be redirected to a related page that is still valid; e.g., the address for an academic program no longer offered by the University will not be deleted but will be redirected to a list of current offerings by the same academic unit.
  5. All members of the FDU community — faculty, staff and students — should share in ensuring the accuracy of the FDU Web pages and immediately report inaccuracies and outdated information to Web Operations. While the goal is continuous review for accuracy, most academic and administrative entities will conduct a more formal review during the summer months at a time when the University Bulletins are being updated and preparations are being made for the upcoming academic semester and admissions recruiting year.

PDF and HTML Pages

FDU pages can be developed in HTML as a part of an FDU website or distributed in  Portable Data Format (PDF). When pages are developed using HTML they are much more likely to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). PDF pages have become a popular option because they can be produced as a byproduct of a MS Word document, and because they can be formatted in a rich and varied layout like a magazine page. These popular options make it unlikely that they will be ADA compliant without further review and editing. As a result, part of the University’s goal of ADA compliance involves ongoing review of PDF pages, seeking to either replace them with HTML pages on the website, or replacing them with ADA compliant PDF pages with the same content.

Program Pages

An important subset of the University’s web properties are the program pages, which are differentiated from other pages in that their URLs begin with https://www.fdu.edu/program/.Each program page presents information about an academic offering: a degree, certificate, minor, or special program. There is usually a one-to-one relationship between an approved PAF (Program Approval Form) and a program page. The program page presents information about the requirements to pursue the academic offering, required and elective courses and their prescribed sequence, and expected outcomes.

The program pages are maintained within a search mechanism called Program Finder. For consistent search behavior, academic programs must be defined on program pages, not on pages about the academic units that offer the programs. There will however be appropriate links from program page to the academic unit and vice versa.

Faculty Profile Pages

Each faculty member and some other student-facing positions, e.g. academic advisors and academic support, are  represented by a Faculty Profile page. Faculty Profile pages may have any of three levels of completeness: (1) At a minimum, a Faculty Profile includes the information provided by the University Bulletins: Name, academic appointment or title, and all earned degrees. (2) Faculty are encouraged but not required to complete an online form to add a short bio, courses taught, and academic and personal interests. (3) Individuals who wish to provide yet additional detail, e.g. a complete vita including publications, may provide a link to a non-FDU site that provides the additional information. See the relevant disclaimer text under Disclaimers below.

Sitewide Search and Archive Search

  1. Sitewide search offered on the FDU website provides an alternative to the site’s navigation structure as a way for visitors to find the content they seek. The site’s searchable content is assumed to be current and events should be removed once they have passed. Otherwise their appearance in search results may distract or confuse individuals seeking up-to-date information. To allow past events and back numbers of newsletters, etc., to be accessed by FDU staff, a content archive is provided, not accessible to sitewide search but only to a specialized archive search.
  2. The University Bulletins (in Undergraduate and Graduate editions) are another instance of archival search. In that the Bulletins are statements of the University’s academic offerings and policies as of the date of publication, the University retains the Bulletins as annual records. Although the Bulletins are hosted on the website, they are not updated as changes occur. They are treated as fixed archival reference tools, analogous to the bound bulletin volumes that were printed prior to 2020.

Accessibility

  1. Publicly available FDU web pages should be ADA accessible in accordance with the WCAG 2.1 Level AA recommendation. FDU has contracted with Siteimprove as its accessibility auditor, and uses both automated and manual testing to identify opportunities to mitigate accessibility problems in web pages.
  2. Training in how to create ADA compliant web pages is conducted by Web Operations for the assigned web editors, and the web editors are expected to use that training to maintain compliant pages to the best of their abilities, and to seek and accept assistance from Web Operations in advanced cases.

Search Engine Optimization

No formally promulgated standard exists for Search Engine Optimization, but there are widely recognized best practices that offer the best chance of good and consistent results in searches. These include consistent navigation structures, uniform page templates, and responsive web design. Web editors are also trained in these best practices and expected to utilize that training.

Web Pages Developed/Hosted Off Campus

Academic and administrative units sometimes contract for development of web properties hosted or developed off campus, in order to meet goals of timeliness, performance, or access to special databases. Since these web resources are published within domains registered to the University or otherwise give the appearance of being under the control and authority of the University, they incur the same obligations under this policy concerning ADA and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) compliance, Responsive Web Design (RWD), accuracy and avoidance of redundancy with other parts of the University’s websites.

Disclaimers

  1. Since Web page content can change quickly and without notice, FDU takes no responsibility for the content of any non-FDU Web page linked to FDU Web pages, either incoming or outgoing. That is, FDU is not responsible for the content of a non-FDU Web page that includes a link to an FDU Web page. Nor is FDU responsible for the content of a non-FDU Web page, even if one or more FDU Web pages include links to that non-FDU Web page, except insofar as the wording of the link text itself is in violation of FDU policy.
  2. While the University reserves the right to publish images of members of the FDU community in academic settings without identifying them by name, the University respects the privacy of individuals and will consider requests for alterations to images that are thought to compromise that privacy.
  3. The wording of the FDU Web page disclaimer (see below) applies to University Web pages, whether or not the disclaimer appears on each page.
    “Information on the FDU Web pages is provided as a convenience for the University community and others seeking information and is provided without warranty or guarantee of any type. While the University intends the information conveyed here to be helpful,  it is the responsibility of the user to verify the information.”
  4. Faculty Profile Pages are a special case in that they are published by Web Operations with content provided by individual faculty members and are explicitly allowed to include links to non-FDU pages. The following disclaimer is attached to each Faculty Profile Page.

Important Note: Faculty profiles may include links to one or more non-FDU websites, including websites self-maintained by faculty to provide additional information about their publications, scholarly pursuits, and other information of interest. If you click on these links, you will be leaving the FDU-maintained website and will be directed to a site that is not under the control of FDU. FDU is not responsible for the content or accessibility of linked non-FDU websites. If, however, you experience a problem with the content or accessibility of a linked website, please contact us using the information on our Accessibility page.