UF Health uses WordPress as our Content Management System. WordPress allows users to insert blocks for custom HTML. This allows web site administrators to add code to their websites. This code can be used to add features that are not within the Web Services design library.
While this provides you a great deal of flexibility, it can also cause severe issues:
- The code might not be compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA. This would mean the content is not accessible to all audiences per UF policies, as well as federal and state law.
- The code might present usability issues
- The content produced by the code might not be compliant with UF and UF Health branding guides
- The code might link to files external to ufl.edu. This can present a potential security risk.
Custom CSS standards
- Only cascading style sheet (CSS) code is allowed in custom HTML blocks.
- If the CSS includes background design files, these must be stored in the site’s Media Library. Linking to outside websites for images or css files is not permitted.
- Any introduced code must meet AA standards under WCAG 2.0 guidelines. You can test your code using WebAIM.
- New code should be tested on desktop, tablet, and mobile screens to make sure it is usable in all formats.
- New features should follow the design language of UF health’s Apollo template. This design is informed by UF Health and UF branding standards. If there are questions or concerns on whether your feature meets those guidelines, contact Web Services for consultation.
- The department assumes responsibility for their code. You are responsible for maintaining any new code that you add. Updates to the server, browsers, WordPress, or our theme might break custom code. Web Services is not responsible for testing for this possibility – we focus on the work we maintain. We can’t assume responsibility for fixing issues when they occur. You will need to plan for having the resources on hand for taking care of these issues when they occur.
Usability review
- Any new features will be reviewed by Web Services to make sure it meets industry best standards for usability. Any issues that are discovered will need to be corrected or addressed by the department/unit.
Violations of these guidelines
- Web Services conducts periodic audits of sites.
- If we find custom code that isn’t following these standards, we will contact the site admins. We’ll alert them of the issue so the code can be brought to standards.
- Site admins will let Web Services know of the time needed to make those changes
- If the site admins do not reply or the issue is not fixed by that date, Web Services will unpublish the content.