Guiding Principles for Websites

Enhance Reputation		YSM’s online presence enhances our reputation and ladders up to institutional priorities and strategies
	Content represents YSM in a professional, positive, forward-thinking manner Content ladders up to institutional priorities by articulating, where possible, how it supports YSM educational, research, or clinical strategies Content is accurate, grammatically correct, up-to-date, and consistent with YSM style
Transparency		We believe in Yale and the work we do
	We want people to know what it is like to attend and work at Yale We will secure content that needs to be protected for business, privacy, or technical reasons
Audience First		Our websites are driven by what our audiences need
	Who is the audience for this information (faculty, staff, students?) and what do they need from it? An important audience is the internal client, and one of their needs is creativity in lab sites.
User First		Websites are accessible and an excellent user experience
	Websites and content are accessible in accordance with university and government guidelines Navigation is straightforward, consistent, and well-structured Design and graphics are clean, beautiful, and engaging Functionality is tested and easy to use
Content has a Purpose		Every page has a primary purpose or goal
	Inform (i.e., News) Promote and/or generate a lead Connect __ to __		Provide a service Present (i.e., a portfolio)
Content is Current		Content is owned and continually reviewed for accuracy and outdatedness
	Content that does not generate traffic will trigger an alert for review All content has an assigned regular review date All content has an assigned subject matter expert
Content is Data-Informed		Decisions about website content are data-informed
	Is there traffic to this content? Is it content we want traffic to? Is there a better way to present this content?
Content is Well-Structured		Content is well-structured for optimal online visibility (SEO) and filtering
	Well-structured data replaces free text in as many places as possible: research projects, educational programs, etc., allowing for filtering up or down (i.e., YSM to Dermatology to Derm Path and back) There is consistency of structure and labeling across content types (programs, fellowships, etc.) Information is collected, as much as possible, in a structured way
Evolution is Necessary		We adapt to change and learn from past experience and current best practice
	We are attuned to search engine algorithm changes Content should live in one place (not be duplicated or siloed) Long link lists are not useful and make us look outdated Purposeless and inconsistent content makes us look disorganized and chaotic