2021

CM1 Training – Part 1:

Section 508 & University
Web Standards
WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TRAINING
UPDATE: 5/17/2021
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION TO ACCESSIBILITY ........................................................................................................... 2
SECTION 508........................................................................................................................................ 2
THE CSU AND WEB ACCESSIBILITY ........................................................................................................... 3
WEB ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT.......................................................................................................... 3
CSUDH WEB POLICY................................................................................................................................. 4
INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE ............................................................................................................ 4
SCOPE.................................................................................................................................................. 4
DEFINITIONS ........................................................................................................................................ 5
OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY WEB PAGES ....................................................................................................... 5
OFFICIAL CSUDH WEB PAGE REQUIREMENTS: .................................................................................. 6
UNOFFICIAL UNIVERSITY WEB PAGES............................................................................................... 7
UNOFFICIAL CSUDH WEB PAGE REQUIREMENTS: ............................................................................. 8
UNIVERSITY WEB STANDARDS ................................................................................................................. 9
PURPOSE ............................................................................................................................................. 9
ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE (ATI) COMMITTEE ......................................................................... 9
UNIVERSITY NAMING STANDARD .......................................................................................................... 10
NAMING STANDARD: WEB FILE & FOLDER NAMES............................................................................. 10
VALIDATION SERVICES ........................................................................................................................... 12
COPYRIGHT ........................................................................................................................................... 13
WHAT IS PROTECTED? ....................................................................................................................... 13
WHAT IS FAIR USE?............................................................................................................................ 13
THE FOURS FACTORS OF FAIR USE ..................................................................................................... 13
THE TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION AND COPYRIGHT HARMONIZATION (TEACH) ACT OF 2002 ............... 14

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CM1 Training – Part 1: Section 508 & University Web Standards
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INTRODUCTION TO ACCESSIBILITY
Access to publications, instructional material, computer software, hardware and electronic information,
as well as access to the campus are critical for the educational and career achievement of persons with
disabilities.

The web has the potential to bring independence to people with disabilities. People with disabilities who
cannot easily leave the house, or who may encounter barriers outside the home, can perform tasks from
their computer like shopping, banking, working, watching entertainment or playing games and, most
importantly for our purposes, going to school. But that is only if the web sites, multimedia, and
documents they encounter are created with accessibility in mind.

Accessibility does not happen by accident. It must be purposefully planned, constructed, and tested for
accessibility. Inaccessibility deprives users with disabilities of experiences and opportunities that other
people take for granted, and they put their creators at legal risk for discrimination lawsuits.

SECTION 508
Section 508 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that CSU Dominguez hills develops, uses,
maintains, and procures information and communication technology that is accessible to persons with
disabilities.

Specifically, §508 requires that DH, and all government agencies in California, comply with the guidelines
promulgated by the W3C.

• W3C: World Wide Web Consortium

• WCAG2.1: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
• ATAG: Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines
• UAAG: User Agent Accessibility Guidelines

Section 508 also provides guidance on accessibility for mobile devices and applications and accessibility
for cognitive and learning disabilities.

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CM1 Training – Part 1: Section 508 & University Web Standards
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THE CSU AND WEB ACCESSIBILITY
The CSU is committed to ensuring the accessibility of its websites, web content and web applications. It
is the law.

Access to computer software, hardware, and electronic information as well as access to the campus are
critical for the educational and career achievement of many people with disabilities. CSU Dominguez
Hills seeks to enable further that access with this course by ensuring that all the websites adhere to the
standards.

WEB ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

UNIVERSAL DESIGN = UNIVERSAL ACCESSIBILITY

California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) seeks to provide universal access to official pages
on its Web site through compliance with Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as
amended in 1998, and the international World-Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C’s) Web Accessibility
Initiative (WAI).

The advantages of universal Web accessibility go beyond legal requirements and the usefulness of a
Web site to people with disabilities. Further, universal design concepts ordinarily lead to clean code and
enhanced cross-browser compatibility. CSUDH seeks to provide universal access to official pages on
its Web site and encourages compliance to standards by unofficial pages residing on its Web server.

The needs that Web accessibility aims to address include:

• Visual: Visual impairments including

blindness, various common types of
low vision and poor eyesight,
various types of color blindness Applying universal design concepts to a
• Motor/Mobility: e.g. difficulty or Web site make it accessible to all site
inability to use the hands, including
tremors, muscle slowness, loss of visitors, including those visiting with
fine muscle control, etc., due to graphics turned off or with mobile
conditions such as Parkinson's
Disease, muscular dystrophy, devices.
cerebral palsy, stroke
• Cognitive/Intellectual: Developmental disabilities, learning disabilities (dyslexia, dyscalculia, etc.),
and cognitive disabilities of various origins, affecting memory, attention, developmental "maturity,"
problem-solving and logic skills, etc.
• Auditory: Deafness or hearing impairments, including individuals who are hard of hearing
• Seizures: Photo-epileptic seizures caused by visual strobe or flashing effects

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CM1 Training – Part 1: Section 508 & University Web Standards
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CSUDH WEB POLICY
INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE
California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) supports and encourages freedom of expression
and an open environment for the pursuit of knowledge. However, the contents of all web pages under
university jurisdiction must comply with local, state and federal laws and university policies, rules, and
regulations.

The service to students and community of CSUDH, as well as the University's image and reputation, is
determined, in part, by the quality of information it publishes electronically. The university's web
presence will be, for many, their first and only view of CSUDH.

Therefore, the purpose of the university's web policy is to ensure the accuracy, consistency, integrity,
usability and accessibility of university web content by providing a set of minimum standards and
guidelines.

General oversight of the university's web servers and web pages, and policies governing the use of these
resources, is the responsibility of the Web Access Management Committee (WAM), Chief Technology
Officer, and the office of University Communications and Public Affairs.

SCOPE
California State University, Dominguez Hills' ("Cal State Dominguez Hills," "University" or "CSUDH")
World Wide Web pages are considered university publications, subject to the guidelines set forth by the
office of University Communications and Public Affairs.

The Web Access Management Committee (WAM) and its subcommittee(s) oversee the structure and
development of the California State University, Dominguez Hills website (www.csudh.edu).

The WAM Committee and subcommittee(s) are appointed by and report to the President. The Office of
Administrative Information Systems (AIS) within Information Technology provides the computer
hardware and access to the CSUDH main web server, in addition to providing various web-based
services.

This policy governs any electronic documents made available via standard web protocols which
represent an official unit or activity of the university, are hosted on university resources, or bear marks,
logos, or symbols that might imply endorsement by the university regardless of where they are hosted.

This policy applies to all members of the CSUDH community, and governs all networked World Wide
Web storage and communications systems utilizing university networks or name space, regardless of
ownership, whether individually controlled or shared.

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Organizational units have broad discretion in establishing additional reasonable and appropriate
"conditions of use" for web information resources under their control. Such policies shall be consistent
with this policy although they may provide more detail, guidelines, and/or restrictions. Such policies
supplement this policy but do not supercede or replace it.

DEFINITIONS
1. Website is a collection of web pages, or collection of related websites, that has a coherent purpose
and is managed by one person or group. A web page is a unit of information delivered to a user in a
format intended for display in a web browser or web appliance.
2. Web Homepage is any web page that serves as the primary portal, table of contents, or designated
entry point for a website.
3. Website Owner is any person or organizational unit serving as the primary provider or publisher of a
website.

OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY WEB PAGES

Official CSUDH web pages are any electronic documents that satisfy both of the following conditions:

A. authorized by an administrator of a CSUDH division, office, school, department, unit or program

B. housed on a University server, on a server rented by the University, or within the University's
Internet domain ("csudh.edu")

Any CSUDH web pages that contain official university information or are directly connected with the
university's mission, including faculty, staff and university approved student organization pages and any
pages that provide classroom or coursework materials, are considered official pages. All main
departments, colleges, and programs are considered official web pages and must adhere to the CSUDH
guidelines for official pages.

Ongoing web site maintenance of official pages is the responsibility of the division, school,
department, unit or program, which are considered the web page publishers. Each web site must be
assigned to a web representative. As with all of the University's external print publications, the President
or designee has the right to review the official websites for their adherence to CSUDH Web Policy and
the CSUDH Mission and Goals. Web representatives will meet regularly to discuss web-related issues
and contribute to the ongoing effort for a consistent look, developing user-friendly navigation and
addressing web access issues.

Web page owners and publishers are required to review and understand their duties as posted in the
"Web Roles" section of the WAM site.

If pages are not kept current, the department/office will be contacted with a deadline date for
refreshing the information. If not refreshed by the deadline, the web page(s) will be removed by the
webmaster. This includes all available links to the web page(s).

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OFFICIAL CSUDH WEB PAGE REQUIREMENTS:
1. The University's complete name –"California State University, Dominguez Hills" –must appear at
or near the top of every web page as text or as a graphic image. When the CSUDH logo or word
mark is used, the image must be a link to the CSUDH home page located at www.csudh.edu. The
web page publisher must include the text alternative, "California State University, Dominguez
Hills home page."
2. A "CSUDH Home Page" link.
3. Every web page must include a descriptive title for indexing/search purposes. The page
publisher should refer to the Web Style Guide located in the WAM site.
4. The web page publisher must provide the following, or similarly formatted, contact information
on the top-level page of a department or unit web site:

• Department Name -- E-mail: [email protected]

Open Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5 p.m. (or appropriate department hours)
xxx Campus Building Name
California State University, Dominguez Hills
1000 East Victoria Street, Carson, CA 90747
Telephone: (310) 243-xxxx Fax: (310) xxx-xxxx

5. The web page publisher must note the date the page was created or updated. If more than one
person is maintaining the page, the publisher may want to include the name or initials of the
person who made the last modification, i.e. “Last updated Thu. Jan-30-03, 09:21, by -Owner
Name-”. The web page owner name should be a "mailto:" link to that person's email address.
6. The top-level page of every department or unit site must link back to the California State
University, Dominguez Hills home page at http://www.csudh.edu. Every "lower level" web page
must provide a link back to the department or unit home page.
7. The web page publisher must respect the copyrights of text, sound, and graphic material,
remembering that the appearance of material in print does not indicate that California State
University, Dominguez Hills holds permission for use beyond that appearance.
8. University academic and administrative units may acknowledge corporate sponsorships through
text and/or the display of corporate logos or trademarks, which may link to sites beyond the
csudh.edu domain. (For example, a department’s web page publicizing a performance or special
event may display information and provide links to sponsors that underwrite the activity.) For
these pages with links beyond the csudh.edu domain, either with or without sponsorship, must
include a link to the centralized disclaimer page in the footer.
9. The link for any information on your web page that exists in original form elsewhere on the
website (e.g., class schedule, campus map, directions to campus) must be linked to that original
source, rather than copying it. This reduces duplication and helps ensure consistency and
accuracy.

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 10. When using official University graphic images/logos on your web site, use the standard versions
supplied by the office of University Communications and Public Affairs. Note: the official
University seal or logo cannot be altered in any way.
11. The following disclaimer: The statements found on the (departments/college/auxiliary) web
page are for informational purposes only. While every effort is made to ensure that this
information is up to date and accurate, official information can be found in the University
Catalog and Class Schedule.
12. Web page owners and publishers must adhere to the web accessibility standards as set by the
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board as part of Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The standards, and information on how to implement them, are
outlined on the CSUDH Web Accessibility Information site located at
http://www.csudh.edu/access
13. If the web page is not ready to launch, it should not be linked to the CSUDH homepage and/or
Department main page, thus eliminating “Under Construction” pages.
14. All online forums must be secured by requiring login authentication. Open public posting on
forums is not allowed.
15. All new website design and/or reorganization of website content must be submitted to the
Office of Communications and Public Affairs for approval prior to development. These elements
will be reviewed:
• Technical
o Usability and accessibility
o Good coding (is there a better way to say this?)
• Design
o Adherence to the university strategic branding
o Consistency of website layout with university website style
o Appropriate use of color, fonts, feature photographs, department headers
• Content
o Consistency with strategic university messaging
o Adherence to university editorial guidelines
o Organization and clarity of content
o Ease of navigation

UNOFFICIAL UNIVERSITY WEB PAGES

Unofficial CSUDH web pages are any electronic documents that satisfy both of the following conditions:

A. not formally acknowledged by an administrator of a CSUDH division, office, school,

department, unit or program.
B. not housed on a University server, on a server rented by the University, or within the
University's Internet domain ("csudh.edu")

• Student, faculty, and staff personal pages, and student organizations web pages are considered
unofficial web pages.

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 • While the university encourages the authors of these unofficial web sites to adhere to standards
of civility, professionalism, and university discourse, unofficial web sites are the property and
responsibility of those who create them.
• CSU Dominguez Hills does not undertake to edit, screen, monitor, or censor information posted
on non-administrative web sites and does not accept any responsibility or liability for such
information. Errors on these pages are not a university obligation or prerogative, even if an
unofficial web site is housed on a university server or within the university’s Internet domain
name (“csudh.edu”).
• Although CSU Dominguez Hills is not responsible for unofficial pages, the University does
reserves the right to remove from any CSUDH web server any page that is found to be in
violation of the law or university policies or interests or that is detrimental to performance of
the web server or the network.

UNOFFICIAL CSUDH WEB PAGE REQUIREMENTS:

The following statement must appear on any CSUDH web page that provides links to unofficial CSUDH
pages:

• "The views and opinions expressed on unofficial pages of California State University, Dominguez
Hills faculty, staff or students are strictly those of the page authors. The content of these pages
has not been reviewed or approved by California State University, Dominguez Hills."
• The disclaimer statement must be placed immediately preceding links to unofficial pages.
• The content of a student organization's web page must relate specifically to the activities of that
organization. Organization pages must include the campus address and phone number of the
organization or the name of a responsible officer.

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UNIVERSITY WEB STANDARDS
The goal of University Web standards is to create a coherent and consistent online presence for the
University. It has been designed to set clear standards that will give the campus-wide Web presence
strength, continuity and a framework for growth. By following University Web standards, all campus
departments and units, regardless of size, will contribute to this end.

• The online version of this document is the official University Web standard.
• A department, school, program, or administrative entity may allow the development of
additional Web standards requirements, as long as they do not conflict with University Web
standards.
• University Web standards supersede any units' internal standards.

PURPOSE
• Identity: University branding allows visitors to recognize immediately a Web page's affiliation
with CSU Dominguez Hills.
• Usability: Sites must be made as usable (that is, quick and easy to use, navigate, and
understand) as possible for the widest audience.
• Consistency: This standard promotes consistency. Consistency simplifies navigation of pages for
end users. CSU Dominguez Hills is committed to maintaining a high level of consistency across
web pages in different areas of the University's website.
• Accuracy: Pages must be accurate and up-to-date.
• Accessibility: Pages must conform to Section 508 federal law and the Chancellor's
Office Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI).

ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE (ATI) COMMITTEE

The CSUDH Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) Committee, comprised of CSUDH faculty, staff and
administrators, meets to discuss strategies for the promotion of universal access to instructional
material, procurement, and Web pages on the CSUDH campus

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UNIVERSITY NAMING STANDARD
A naming standard is essential for effective collaboration between individuals working in common web
environments. A document that is given a well-structured name based on a file naming standard is easy
to search for, identify and retrieve. However, the key to successfully executing this strategy is that
everyone must adhere to the file naming standard set in place. This ensures consistency, precision and
reliability and contributes to efficiency and increased productivity especially in collaborative work
environments where file sharing takes place.

NAMING STANDARD: WEB FILE & FOLDER NAMES

The University Naming Standard applies to all files and folders used on CSUDH web servers. Some
common file types are:

• Web pages: .html, .shtml, .htm, .asp, .php, etc.

• Images: .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, etc.
• PDF: .pdf
• MS Word: .doc, .docx
• MS Excel: .xls, .xlxs
• MS Powerpoint: .ppt, .pptx
• Text: .txt, .text, .rtf, etc.
• Archive/Compressed: .zip, .rar, .tar, etc.

Web files and folders should use the following rules to ensure they are easy to read, sort correctly, and
display friendly URLs:

1. Avoid spaces. Use dashes instead.

Browsers will convert space characters to %20 in the URL string.

Example:

• Avoid: “2022 11 21 undergraduate application.pdf” as it will show as:

2022%2022%2021%20 undergraduate….you get the picture.
• Use "2022-11-21-undergraduate-application.pdf"

2. Avoid underscores or special characters. (\ / : * ? " < > | [ ] & $ , .)

The characters listed above are frequently used for specific tasks in an electronic environment.
Underscores may be difficult to see when a hyperlinked filename is underlined. It may also create
issues when using the Google search engine.

Example:

• Avoid "2022_11_21_application.pdf", "2022/11/21_application.pdf"

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 • Use "2022-11-21-application.pdf"

3. Use all lowercase.

This is mostly a precautionary measure as filenames on some servers may be case-sensitive. ("Class-
List.html" may differ from "class-list.html")

4. Use the format "YYYY-MM-DD" when including dates.

This format will sort files chronologically in the web folder.

Example:

• Avoid "11-21-2022-event.pdf", "Nov-21-2022-event.pdf"

• Use "2022-11-21-event.pdf"

5. Use the format "YYYY-semester" when including a semester year.

This format will better sort files chronologically in the web folder.

Example:

• Avoid "schedule-fall-2022.pdf", "Nov-21-2022-event.pdf"

• Use "schedule-2022-fall.pdf"

6. Be consistent.
Use the same naming convention for similar files. This will keep similar files grouped together when
sorted.

Example:

• Avoid "memo-001.pdf" and "memorandum-002.pdf"

• Use "memo-001.pdf" and "memo-002.pdf"

7. Be brief yet descriptive. Avoid confusing abbreviations.

Generally about 25 characters is a sufficient length to capture enough descriptive information for
naming. Omit articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions when sensible.

Example:

• Use "president-message.pdf" instead of "message-from-the-president.pdf”

• Use "student-application-2022-fall.pdf" instead of "stu-app-for-fa-2022.pdf"

8. Avoid including the file type in the filename description.

This is redundant and generally unnecessary.

Example:

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CM1 Training – Part 1: Section 508 & University Web Standards
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 • Use "2022-events.pdf" instead of "2022-pdf-of-events.pdf”
• Use "2022-grads.jpg" instead of "photo-of-2022-grads.jpg"

VALIDATION SERVICES
Before publishing, validate the Web page’s universal accessibility with the following tools:

• W3C Markup Validation Service; http://validator.w3.org/

• WAVE is developed and made available as a free community service by WebAIM. WAVE allows
users to select certain guidelines and standards filters in the Details panel, including Section 508
and WCAG 2.0 guidelines. http://wave.webaim.org/
• Cynthia Says helps users identify errors in their Web content related to Section 508 standards
and/or the WCAG guidelines for Web accessibility. Cynthia Says allows users to test individual
pages on their website and provides feedback in a reporting format that is clear and easy to
understand. http://www.cynthiasays.com/

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COPYRIGHT
WHAT IS PROTECTED?
Copyright protects "original works of authorship" that are "fixed in any tangible medium of expression"
(Section 102), e.g., books, photographs, movies, software, websites, music, sound recordings,
architecture

• Registration is required only if the owner intends to seek a claim of violation.

o True or false? If it doesn’t have a copyright notice, it’s not copyrighted.
• False: Almost anything created privately and originally after April 1, 1989, is protected.
• Always assume that a work is
protected unless you know
otherwise. On the other hand,
including a notice reminds Copyright protection exists as soon as
everyone that your work is
protected. Here’s a sample
the work is put into a tangible form.
notice: “© [dates] by The work does not have to be
[author/owner]”
published.
• Not protected:
o Facts, slogans, titles
o Works of the U.S. [not state]
government

WHAT IS FAIR USE?

Under the fair use doctrine of 1976, you can use limited portions of a work for purposes such as
commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no specific rules about the
number of words, the number of musical notes, or the percentage of a work.

Please Note: Fair use is a legal defense, not a right.

THE FOURS FACTORS OF FAIR USE

1. The purpose and character of your use (called the “Transformative Factor”);
2. The nature of the copyrighted work;
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion taken; and
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market.
• The Supreme Court emphasized in a 1994 case that the first factor is a primary indicator of fair
use.
• You generally have more leeway to copy from factual works such as biographies than you do
from fictional works such as plays or novels.

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 • The less you take, the more likely your copying will be excused as a fair use.
• Does your use deprive the copyright owner of income?

THE TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION AND COPYRIGHT

HARMONIZATION (TEACH) ACT OF 2002
Copyright protected materials can be used in distance education—on websites and with other digital
means—without permission from the copyright owner and without payment of royalties, for accredited,
non-profit U.S. educational institutions.

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