The IHS Web Template (Detailed Description)
The IHS Web Team has designed a pre-formatted, pre-coded
template for the novice or advanced user that wants to code or build their web
site for their department. The template is required in order for our site (the
over-all IHS Web) to meet web site regulations enacted through Section 508 of
the Americans with Disabilities Act and to maintain a visual consistency throughout
the entire IHS Internet. There is, however, plenty of freedom built into the
template as the Content Manager can control the look of the Program Menu and
has total control of the Content Area. This template will help make the process
of web site creation go much faster than having to code from scratch.
The template comes with the IHS Header, IHS Footer,
Program Menu, and Style Sheet already built in. The Content Manager needs to
make copies and rename the template for each page he or she wishes his or her site to have.
The Content Manager needs to then identify and link to those pages in the Program Menu file.
The Content Manager can also change the Style Sheet to create whatever textual look
she or he wishes for the menu and site. The Content Manager then fills in the Content
Area of each of the pages she or he has created with the appropriate information.
Each template is formatted in basic HTML and can be used with any HTML editor
application by looking at the HTML source code through the editor’s HTML code
view tab.
The easiest way to explain proper use of the template
and the proper process for IHS web site creation is with the example of one
Content Manager:
Sue has been given the task of creating a web site for
her department. After filling out the proper forms, she meets with her Account
Manager from the IHS Web Team. In this meeting, they decide that Sue, who has
some experience in HTML and has even taken an Internet class, will create her department’s
web site using the IHS Web Template. After discussing the goals of the site
and going over what Sue must do to make her site meet or exceed Section 508’s
requirements for web sites, she is given three files by her Account Manager.
One is an Active Server Page (ASP) called program_template.asp, the next is
a file called program_menu.asp and lastly she receives a file called program_stylesheet.css.
With these three files she will create her department’s web site.
During their last meeting, her Account Manager showed
her how to access her web site’s development space on the IHS Development Server.
Sue saves her files on that development space. She will do all of her web site
development here. Sue is going to use the web editing software called Dreamweaver to edit her HTML. She could have used another program if she wished, but she remembers from her meeting with her Account Manager
that she must not publish through FrontPage as the webbots and extensions that
FrontPage uses when publishing will make her site incompliant with Section 508.
Program_template.asp is the page she will copy over
each time she wants a new page for her web site. The code for this page meets
the requirements of Section 508 and includes the mandatory IHS Header, Sub-Section
Include, and IHS Footer all IHS web sites must have. With the page open in Dreamweaver and looking at the actual HTML code, she sees that
this page uses an ASP include to display the program_menu.asp file on the page.
With the pages set up this way, Sue can change the Program Menu and add new
pages without having to change the menu code on each individual page. This
can be very convenient when dealing with web sites made up of many pages.
She copies over the program_template.asp page as many
times as she needs and then renames the pages appropriately. Sue names the
main page of her department’s web site index.asp knowing that when a Web Browser
comes to a folder, it first opens the index file. She took those same page
names and referenced them in her program_menu.asp file.
Sue’s Account Manager explained that the stylesheet.css
file controls the look of the menu file (text and background color). By changing
the Hexadecimal Colors on the style sheet file, Sue can change the colors and
look of the menu. She was aware, however, that some color combinations won’t
work (they may make it hard for people with colorblindness to read the menu)
and that she should talk to her Account Manager if she has any questions.
After the structure of her site is done, all she has
left is to populate the Content Areas, fill out the META Tags on each page, and, if the page has downloadable content, acknowledge the apprpriate plug-ins a user will need for that content in the plug-in include section of the template.
Sue had previously prepared all her content in proper digital formats so that
was relatively easy, as there was little Content Conversion that was needed
to be done. After getting her Account Manager to help her with some custom
graphics, her department’s new web site was ready to be reviewed for Section
508 compliancy. Once final approval was given, the site went live on the IHS
Internet.
IHS Web Template (Summary)
Account Managers must use the new IHS Web Template in
order to make their site meet or exceed the requirements of Section 508 of the
Americans with Disabilities Act.
The IHS Web Template consists of three files. The file
“program_template.asp” is to be replicated for each page being created for the
web site. That file automatically includes the file “program_menu.asp,” which
must be re-coded to link to each replicated page of the web site (it comes coded
to link to some standard page titles, such as “Home Page” and “Staff”). The template also includes a plug-in include which can be customized to call the appropriate plug-ins for downloadable content. The
last file, “program_stylesheet.css,” is a style sheet that controls the look
of the menu through the “color1” and “color2” styles (but can be added to for
use on the rest of the site as well).
Meet with your Account Manager to go over the best strategies
and practices in creating your web site.
Your Account Manager can also help with the development
of your site by helping you with or contributing their services in the development
of custom content and custom graphics. There are also ColdFusion versions of
the IHS Web Template that they can provide you with.
Although the IHS Web Template has been created to meet
or exceed the requirements of Section 508, there is still a final Section 508
review process for all new sites that must be completed before they are allowed
to go live to the public.
IHS Web Template Rules
- You can change the look and color of the menu through the Style Sheet, but
do not get rid of the Style Sheet.
- If you plan of having multiple levels of content, consult your Account Manager,
otherwise your Program Menu include may not work properly.
- Make sure your content only sits between the two content tags on the Program
Template that indicate the Content Area. Do not erase or alter code in the
rest of the IHS Web Template without consulting your Account Manager.
- You must fill out the META Tags on the Program Template file in accordance
with the rules put forth in IHS Standards and Practices for Internet and Intranet
Services.
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Acrobat
MS Word
