The College has developed a tier system to help balance the need for individuality and creativity of its web pages with the need for visual consistency throughout its web site. Certain areas of Messiah’s web site have a higher profile and attract more visitor “traffic”. By nature these sites are subject to stronger graphic standards and have less design flexibility than sites that are not as frequently visited or that are further removed from Messiah’s front page. The tier system is not to be interpreted as a scale of importance or value of function within the Messiah College web site – but as a means to assess the application of graphic standards to certain key areas of the College’s site.

It is important to note that the below criteria are meant to provide general guidelines. Given the diversity of Messiah’s web site, it is difficult to develop exact criteria that will neatly define every web page. Instead, they are meant to provide guidelines that will help the College’s web staff to assess the allocation of resources and application of graphic standards as effectively as possible. The College Webmaster, in consult with the Director of Public Relations, will use the below criteria to assess these decisions, providing the clients with as much creativity and flexibility as possible.

The tier system is divided into four tiers:

Tier One
These pages create and define the standard for Messiah College’s visual identity on the Internet. Tier One pages explicitly represent Messiah College’s as an institution and act as the navigational and visual “glue” that ties the entire web site together. In effect, these pages define the graphic standard for Messiah College’s online navigation and style.

Examples:

• Front page of the Messiah College web site
• Special target audience pages, web applications and other content generally accessible from the font page of Messiah’s web site

Designed by:

• The College Web Staff

Adhere to:

• College web templates and style guidelines
• College graphic and technical standards
• ITS policies and procedures
• All federal, state and local laws related to Internet usage

Note: Any changes to Tier One pages must be approved by the College Webmaster, in consultation with the Director of Public Relations and the senior administration.

Tier Two
These are navigation or content pages that significantly communicate Messiah College to external audiences (prospective students, alumni, friends, donors, etc.). Tier Two pages are generally “high traffic” areas that are highly visible, easily accessible, and are likely to represent Messiah College as a whole to those visiting the College’s web site.

Examples:

• All “hub pages” directly accessible from the Messiah College front page (such as About Messiah, Academics, Athletics, etc.)
• Individual department, office, or program web pages (such as academic departments, Murray Library, the Philadelphia Campus, The Oakes Museum, etc.), which are highly visible and visited frequently by external audiences

Designed by:

• The College Web Staff

Adhere to:

• College web templates and style guidelines
• College graphic and technical standards
• ITS policies and procedures
• All federal, state and local laws related to Internet usage

Tier Three
These are web pages of individual College programs, offices and departments that do not represent Messiah College as a whole to external audiences. Generally, these web pages communicate primarily with internal audiences, generate less “traffic”, and are not as accessible from the front page of Messiah’s web site.

Examples:

• Student club/organization web sites
• The ITS web page
• Faculty Services web page

Designed by:

• The College Web Staff (as workload allows) or;
• A departmental or work study webmaster, etc. working at the request of the campus client

Adhere to:

• College graphic and technical standards
• ITS policies and procedures
• All federal, state and local laws related to Internet usage

Minimal graphic/technical standards for Messiah College web pages (Tiers 1-3):

• Content must be kept current/accurate
• Links must be monitored and kept functional
• Must provide a link to Messiah’s home page
• Must provide a link to the webmaster who is responsible for the page (not the College Webmaster if the College Web Staff did not create it)

Note: If it is brought to the attention of the College Webmaster that these criteria are not being met for web pages Tiers One through Three, he will contact the client to work together to correct the situation and to help meet the client’s needs.

Tier Four
These pages represent an individual (not an entire department or organization) and do not represent Messiah College on an institutional level. These pages are not required to adhere to the College’s web site graphic standards. However, these pages remain subject to all ITS policy and procedures guidelines, as well as all local, state and federal laws (including those governing copyright violations). Links to these pages may be established by contacting the College Webmaster. Placement and inclusion of these links are under the Messiah College Web Staff’s discretion.

Examples:

• Students’ personal home pages
• Faculty and staff members’ personal home pages

Designed by:

• The individual responsible for the web account

Adhere to:

• ITS policies and procedures
• All federal, state and local laws related to Internet usage

Note: Use of the College’s web templates are required for the College’s Tier One and Two web pages; however, Tier Three and Four pages may also benefit from use of the standard templates. When the College Web Staff has primary design responsibility for a web page, they will use the College’s approved templates and style guide unless there is a strong, compelling benefit for not doing so.