There is one official website for the University of Canberra, www.canberra.edu.au, referred to as the corporate website. All information relating to the university, its students and staff, events, programs and activities is contained within the corporate website. No other website(s) may represent official university information.
The purpose of the university’s corporate website is to:

• market the university to potential students, student supporters, researchers, granting bodies, prospective staff, alumni, partner institutions, business and the community;
• establish a corporate identity and create visibility for the university;
• publish information about the university to support its strategic goals and meet legislative requirements;
• support the interchange of information between the university and partners in business, the higher education sector, academe and the professions, students and staff and the community both in Australia and internationally.

The purpose of this policy is to document the principles, responsibilities and management of the corporate website in order to ensure accuracy, consistency, integrity and protection of the identity and image of the university.
This policy aims to support the cost efficiency of website operations and ensure the consistency, accessibility and currency of information on the website.
The university recognises the importance of, and is committed to, providing an efficient method of delivering current, factual and official information to its respective audiences.

This policy covers the entire University community which uses and publishes to the university’s corporate website. This policy does not apply to the MyUC Staff Portal or MyUC Student Portal as these sites communicate with internal audiences.

1. The university's corporate website and web assets provide support for its research, teaching, learning and community links.  It is therefore paramount that the website and web assets are managed in a proficient manner.
2. Website content is owned by the relevant faculties, departments, centres and business units of the university using a WCMS distributed content ownership model.
3. The university reserves the right to remove material from the website and take appropriate action for breaches of university statutes, policies and rules.  Breaches that violate Commonwealth and/or Territory law may be reported to the appropriate authorities and removed from the corporate website.
4. The university is committed to reducing its carbon footprint by delivering information online wherever possible and appropriate.
5. The university corporate website must comply with the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act and its National Code 2007.

URL and domain

1. The university’s URL www.canberra.edu.au and domain name canberra.edu.au are managed by the Digital Information and Technology Management (DITM) Unit.
2. The university’s URL is used on all web pages and is the only URL used unless approval has been granted by Information Technology Management.
3. Shortened URLs will be allocated to a defined number of pages as approved by the Digital Marketing Manager in the Marketing and Communications business unit.

Format
The approved branding, visual design, navigation, architectural structure and style conventions must be consistent across the corporate website. Changes may be requested through the Digital Marketing Team and approved by the Web Governance Committee.

Content

1. The UC website is the face of the university. It is important that content on our website be professional, cohesive, current, credible, consistent and useful to users. Web content should:
   • persuade
   • inform
   • educate
   • entertain
   • change behaviour
   • enforce compliance
2. The UC website is governed through a decentralised web publishing model. Custodianship and ownership of web content is distributed across the university.
3. Site Coordinators and Content Authors are responsible for developing, fact-checking, publishing and maintaining content from their respective areas.
4. The appropriate Senior Manager is ultimately responsible for the accuracy of content pertaining to their areas.
5. To ensure relevance and guide content management, all content should
   • Meet an existing business goal
   • Meet an existing user need
6. New content should not be developed in isolation, but rather as an extension of existing communication strategies and collateral.  The Page Brief (Attachment 1) outlines the target users, goals and purpose of UC webpages. 
7. As a rule, all content on the university websites must:
   • be relevant to teaching, learning, research or administrative functions of the university;
   • comply with university policy and relevant legislation;
   • be primarily intended for an external target audience; and
   • not include illegal, offensive material and/or unauthorised data

CMS author training
CMS training to intermediate level is mandatory for all Content Authors. CMS training to beginner level is mandatory for all Content Coordinators.

Social Media
The use of associated Social Media channels is covered in the University of Canberra Social Media Guidelines. These channels are maintained by the Marketing and Communications (M&C) unit as stewards of the university brand.

 Branding, external logos and co-branding

1. The full-colour UC logo will appear on all corporate website pages as part of the fixed top header and global navigation bar.
2. Any subsequent university logos (from the list of endorsed university sub-brands) may be placed on an internal page of the corporate website, but may not appear larger or more prominently than the UC logo.
3. Logos of companies external to the university may be placed on internal pages of the corporate website where a genuine partnership agreement exists eg a joint research project, joint conference or joint event, but may not appear larger or more prominently than the UC logo.

Copyright

1. Unless otherwise indicated, information contained on the corporate website is Copyright © University of Canberra.
2. Content and material for which the university does not own the copyright must only be made available in accordance with relevant Commonwealth legislation and the university’s copyright policy.  Infringing material will be removed from the website.

Compliance and Privacy
This policy should be read in conjunction with the following policies, procedures and guidelines.  The material on the corporate website must comply with the following university policies and guidelines:

• Marketing and Brand Policy
• Staff Portal – Writing for the Web
• DITM and Records Management Policy Manual
• Privacy at UC
• Charter of Conduct and Values
• Web Governance Committee Terms of Reference
• University of Canberra Social Media Guidelines

Records Management
The content and electronic transactions on the corporate website are public records that must be retained and managed in accordance with the university’s Records Management Policy.

Accessibility

1. The university is committed to improving the accessibility of information on the corporate website.  The primary language of the corporate website is English.
2. Accessibility requirements for websites are mandated under government policy, legislation, and through whole-of-government commitments.
3. Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 agencies must ensure that people with disabilities have the same fundamental rights to access information and services as others in the community.
4. Furthermore, in 2008, the Australian Government ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which specifically recognises (under Articles 9 and 21) that access to information, communications and services, including the internet, is a human right.
5. Please refer to the Accessibility section of the university’s Accessibility Policy.

• Marketing and Communications are responsible for the information architecture, integrity and compliance of the website.
• The Digital Marketing Team (Marketing and Communications) provide relevant data and professional advice to business units seeking to develop new websites and redevelop existing websites. This advice may include web traffic analytics and other data, best practice advice and user experience insights.
• Marketing and Communications are responsible for the design of the website to ensure it aligns with university branding guidelines.
• The Director Marketing and Communications, or designate, is responsible for approving any advertising or sponsorships which may appear on the website.
• Marketing and Communications are responsible for the content which appears on the Home Page and initial landing pages for each channel.
• Site Coordinators and Content Authors are responsible for developing, fact-checking, publishing and maintaining content from their respective areas.
• The appropriate Senior Manager is ultimately responsible for the accuracy of content pertaining to their areas.
• Where content is reported as inappropriate, the Director, Marketing and Communications will be the final arbiter on the suitability of such content.
• The Web Governance Committee is responsible for the governance and strategic direction of the corporate website and may make relevant recommendations to the Vice-Chancellor.
• The Web Governance Committee will hear and make determinations on any requests for exemption from this policy and any strategic change requests eg changes to global navigation.
• The Director Information Infrastructure Group within DITM is responsible for managing the corporate website WCMS server and other corporate web servers including hosting and DITM infrastructure support.
• For websites not hosted on the canberra.edu.au domain, and therefore not official UC websites, responsibility for implementing and maintaining the design, content, security, link integrity and coding development resides solely with the owner of the website. The Digital Marketing Team accepts no responsibility for non-official UC websites.
• All university staff and students are expected to report suspected breaches of this policy to the Director, Marketing and Communications.  All reports will be treated in a confidential and responsible manner.

This policy is governed by the University of Canberra (University Facilities) Amendment Statute 2006 and the University Facilities (Information and Communication Technology Network) Rules 2006.

Support
All enquiries and requests for support for the university corporate website must be lodged with the DITM Servicedesk. The Servicedesk can be contacted by phone on extension 5500 or by email at servicedesk@canberra.edu.au 

Audit and Evaluation
The processes outlined in this policy will be reviewed and assessed on an annual basis using sampling of sites by Marketing and Communications for compliance with the policy.

Documents related to this policy are:

• Marketing and Brand Policy
• Marketing and Brand Procedure
• DITM and Records Management Policy Manual
• Privacy at UC
• Records Management
• Australian Government Web Guide
• Guidelines for Federal and ACT Government Websites
• Accessibility Policy

Term	Definition
Content Author	A Content Author is a university staff member who has attended formal WCMS Content Author training and has access to edit their relative business area web pages, for the approval of the business area Site Coordinator/s.
compliance	Compliance means conforming to a rule, such as a specification, policy, standard or law. As part of any web delivery framework, compliance is a principle that involves: meeting mandatory requirements from governing agencies (e.g. WCAG 2.0); applying best practice recommendations derived from authoritative sources for accessibility; and adhering to internal policies and procedures.
Digital Marketing Team	The Digital Marketing Team within Marketing and Communications (formerly the Web Team) is a team of experts in the area of web design, user experience, content development and digital content delivery.
home page	The home page is the first page of the corporate website, located at www.canberra.edu.au
landing page	A landing page is the top-level page for a major sub-site eg the Current Students landing page at www.canberra.edu.au/current-students
integrity	Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. As part of any web delivery framework, integrity is a principle that encompasses: currency of display and content; accurate representation of the business and branding; appropriate use of language and communication for the intended audience; and commitment to the application of best practice recommendations for usability of the interface and findability of the information.
Site Coordinator	A Site Coordinator is a university staff member who has attended formal WCMS Site Coordinator training and is responsible for the content of a sub-site and its public release.
sub-site	A sub-site is a component website of the corporate website whose information and content is derived from a specific business area.
unauthorised data	Unauthorised data is structured and unstructured information produced by the university that has not been authorised by the owner for public release.
URL	The URL, or Uniform Resource Locator, is the unique address given to every web page, eg http://www.canberra.edu.au/current-students/enrolment
WCMS	A Web Content Management System (WCMS) is a bundled or stand-alone application used to create, manage, store and deploy content on Web pages. Web content types can include text, graphics and photos, video or audio, and application code that renders other content or interacts with the visitor. WCMS may also catalogue or index content, select or assemble content at runtime, or deliver content to specific visitors in a personalized way or in different languages.
website	A website is a unified collection of web pages or files linked together and available on the World Wide Web.
Web Governance Committee	The Web Governance Committee is a group consisting of relevant business unit delegates who meet to make recommendations for the governance and strategic direction of the corporate website.
web page	A web page may incorporate any combination of text, graphics and other media as appropriate, and may use hypertext links to move between its different parts and other web pages.
web server	A web server is a computer connected to the internet. The web server stores web pages and makes those pages available when requested by the user seeking information.

Web Governance Committee Change Request Form
Web Governance Committee ToR

Attachment 1- Web Page Brief
 

PAGE TITLE	<page title>
PAGE URL	<page URL>
PAGE LEVEL (IA)	<page level e.g.: Landing page or Content page>
TARGET USER (AUDIENCE)	<target audience> <e.g.: Future students>
USER TASK	<the main action(s) your user will take after reading this content> <e.g.: enquire about scholarships>
USER JOURNEY	<the context of your user’s journey through the UC website> Previous page(s): <pages users are likely to have visited prior to this page> Next page(s): <pages you want users to visit after this page>
KEY CONTENT	<content that is most relevant and useful for the user>
KEY MESSAGE	<key messages for the page> <note: the message doesn’t have to appear on the page, but should influence the content tone, language etc.>
KEYWORDS (SEARCH)	<words and terms user’s will use when searching for this content> < keywords should appear in content text, headings, lists etc.>
RELATED CONTENT	<related content on the website>
CONTENT AREA OWNER	<the business area responsible for content>
CONTENT AUTHORISER	<the content authoriser – usually a supervising manager>
REVIEW FREQUENCY	<frequency this content is reviewed>
LAST REVIEWED	<date of last review>
NEXT REVIEW DATE	<date of next review>