4,718: Website/CMS Policy

Revised: August 2025

1.1 Purpose, Scope, and Governance of University Website

Purpose

The University website (unr.edu) serves as the primary marketing and brand awareness tool for the institution, facilitating prospective student recruitment, alumni engagement, and public relations efforts. It reflects the University’s mission, values, and brand identity, ensuring consistent messaging across all digital platforms.

Scope

This policy applies to all websites hosted within the University’s central Content Management System (CMS), including subdomains, microsites, web applications, web content, media files, and associated assets.

Governance

The University website is subject to state and federal laws and compliance. The Office of Marketing and Communications reserves the right to create, modify or remove content without prior notice to remain in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, website best practices, and University brand standards.

1.2 Access to the Content Management System (CMS)

Access to the CMS is granted solely at the discretion of the Office of Marketing and Communications. CMS users must be employees of the University, complete training in the system, complete web accessibility training, and agree to terms and conditions of use. Students, except for students under the supervision of full-time web staff, may not have access to the CMS.

Access Criteria. The following criteria may be used to evaluate eligibility of individual users:

• Full-time University employees hired for web and digital content.
• Student workers who report to full-time web and digital staff members.
• Plans to spend a minimum of 6-10 hours per month in the CMS.
• CMS users must have a University login through the Office of Information Technology (OIT) in order to access the system. No exceptions will be made.

Role Type. The following types of roles may be granted to eligible users:

• Web liaison (no CMS access)
• Content owner (no CMS access)
• Contributor (limited CMS access)
• Editors (limited CMS access)
• Publishers (limited CMS access)
• Power Editor (full access to section in CMS), limited to full-time professionals employed by the University in marketing and communication roles.
• Administrators (full CMS access), limited to Office of Marketing and Communications Staff members.

1.3 Content Management System (CMS) Training Requirements

Users are required to spend a minimum of 6 hours per month using the CMS and must undergo annual CMS and web accessibility training.

1.4 Revoking Content Management System (CMS) Access

Access to the CMS or any website technologies administered by the Office of Marketing and Communications may be revoked as MarCom sees appropriate.

Reasons for revoking CMS access include, but are not limited to the following:

• Failure to maintain required accessibility practices.
• Failure to comply with training requirements.
• Failure to comply with University brand guidelines.
• Inappropriate, inaccurate, malicious content which may result in sanctions.
• Failure to optimize content for both SEO and human users.
• Plagiarism
• Failure to comply with a University policy.
• On year of CMS inactivity
• Sharing CMS account access

1.5 Content Management System (CMS) Costs

The Office of Marketing and Communications provides space for websites to Colleges/Schools, Divisions and Major Units as a courtesy. A fee may be charged for additional services or custom development.

1.6 Content Management System (CMS) and Website Availability

Per the University’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Accessibility Policy, all web content and media hosted on CMS websites must be accessible, meeting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Ensuring all web content is accessible is a shared responsibility among all content creators and managers at the University. This commitment reflects the University’s dedication to inclusivity and compliance with legal standards. Content creators and those with CMS roles are responsible for ensuring that any published content or media is accessible.

PDF Documents. PDF documents must pass a SiteImprove (or the University’s approved accessibility checking software) and a manual user check for accessibility.

• PDF files must be uploaded into the CMS accessibility clearinghouse, reviewed and cleared prior to publishing it to the website.
• PDF files must be housed within the approved PDF folder in the CMS asset manager.
• PDF files may not be stored outside of the CMS (e.g., cloud hosting) and linked to from the University website.

Images. Images containing text should be avoided and may be denied as web content. If text within an image is necessary, an accessible alternative must be provided. An example of an acceptable exception would be an image map of campus shuttle route stops, with a detailed text description of the route on the page with it.

Video and Audio Content, Including Recorded Meetings. Videos and audio content must be appropriately captioned or transcribed with human-generated captions/transcriptions. YouTube and Vimeo are preferred video players for embedded content, but other options may be considered at the discretion of the Office of Marketing and Communications. 

Other Documents. Other document types, including Microsoft Office documents, can be stored in a publicly available NevadaBox folder. These documents must comply with WCAG standards, be free of errors and pass a manual review prior to publishing.

1.7 Content Management System (CMS) Requests

Requests for new content or changes to existing content must follow the process established by the Office of Marketing and Communications.

• Submitting Requests. Requests may be emailed to cms@unr.edu.
• Prioritization.The Office of Marketing and Communications prioritizes requests based on urgency, importance, and available resources.

The Office of Marketing and Communications reserves the right to decline website update requests and maintain the ability to copyedit or update content to align with accessibility standards, website industry best practices and search engine optimization needs.

1.8 Content Management System (CMS) Content

Content hosted on CMS websites must meet the standards established by the Office of Marketing and Communications. These include, but are not limited to the following:

• Quality. All content must be well organized and free of errors. It should be tailored to the site’s target audience, ensuring clarity and relevance.
• Style. All content must align with the University brand guidelines.
• Audience. All content should be written at an appropriate reading level for the target audience. For non-policy, student facing websites, content should be written at an eighth-grade level to ensure accessibility and comprehension.
• Imagery. All imagery must meet University brand guidelines, be high-quality, accessible and of appropriate dimensions and optimized file.

External Content. Integration of external content, including, but not limited to, external embeds, feeds, forms or other integrations is at the discretion of the Office of Marketing and Communications. Inclusion of non-University information is at the discretion of the Office of Marketing and Communications.

All external content must meet all applicable local, state and federal regulations, including, but not limited to WCAG, FERPA, and HIPAA, and University policies.

The use of Google Suite products (e.g., Google Docs, Sheets, etc.) within the CMS and its associated platforms is not allowed due to potential accessibility, privacy and security concerns.

1.9 Archiving Website and Content Management System (CMS) Content

CMS websites are expected to have up-to-date and accurate information. CMS websites are not to be used to store and/or archive content or media, except where clearly designated for this purpose (e.g., news articles, event data). Content owners and editors are responsible for backing up previous iterations of content and media. Outdated content may be removed at the discretion of the Office of Marketing and Communications without prior notice.

Colleges/Schools, Divisions, and Major Units are responsible for removing and archiving their content and media from the CMS that is older than a year and not currently in use.

2. Custom Website and Content Management System (CMS) Development

Requests for custom website/subdomains in the CMS are handled on a case-by-case basis. Approval is required from the Senior Director, Web and Digital Strategy. A Service-Level Agreement (SLA) must be completed and signed after approval to host and/or build a custom website using the CMS.

2.1 URL’s, Domains and Site Architecture in the Content Management System (CMS)

Website URL’s, including vanity URL’s, and page type are at the discretion of the Office of Marketing and Communications.

2.2 Content Management System (CMS) and Forms

Forms solutions must be approved for use by the Office of Information Technology and the Office of Marketing and Communications. Contact cms@unr.edu to determine current approved form software. The currently approved platform is Formstack.

Form Types. Forms used in the CMS should be designed to temporarily capture basic submission information. Formstack is not an appropriate platform for program applications, student records, or long-term storage.

Embedded Forms. Embedded forms should be limited to quick-capture, high-conversion requests, such as degree page request-for-information forms, newsletter signups, and director/advisor contacts.