Digital Communications Standard

All new UT Health San Antonio websites and digital services must meet the Digital Communications Standard for a consistent, high-quality user experience.

The following criteria form a standard for digital communications at UT Health San Antonio. All organizational units who communicate with internal and external audiences on behalf of the organization through a website, newsletter, social media, or other digital platform must adhere to the standard to ensure a consistent and high-quality experience for our audiences.

The standard:

• applies to all new or redesigned websites and online services going live after January 2015
• must be maintained after a site goes live
• aims to make our digital services so good that people prefer to carry out transactions online rather than by phone, mail or in person

This standard of online service is a commitment the UT Health San Antonio made in our Digital Strategy.

Organizational units must meet and maintain the following criteria for their website and digital communications:

1. Design for user needs. Conduct research to identify who audiences are and how they use the digital services, as well as potential improvements.
2. Identify a team who is responsible for content and operation of digital services.
3. Build products that are consistent with the UT Health San Antonio design patterns and style guide.
4. Properly secure any user data that is collected and stored.
5. Consolidate independent domains and subdomains into the www.uthscsa.edu structure to improve search engine rankings and support a consistent brand image.
6. Work with the UT Health San Antonio Web Initiatives team to configure analytics tools to collect and evaluate performance data.
7. Organize primary navigation and calls to action around users’ top goals using words they use most, not around internal organizational structures.
8. Create natural intersections with user behavior. Rather than asking, “How can I tell people about all the services we have to offer?” consider “When do people want to find out about our services? And what do they want to know?”
9. Align online and offline services. Create content that supports or augments users’ offline experience.
10. Cultivate a user experience that supports the experience design principles.