Website Best Practices
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Design responsive and mobile‑first, with progressive enhancement for larger screens.
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Prioritize accessibility for all users, including high‑resolution devices and assistive tech.
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Emphasize UX with clean typography and modern web font systems.
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Deliver clear, structured content – favor depth over click‑bait.
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Provide real‑time, user‑friendly feedback in forms (auto‑tabbing, inline validation).
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Optimize for SEO + generative AI by making content concise, trustworthy, and citation‑ready.
Alert Bar
Syndication technology allows for a web bar to appear automatically on websites across the university to highlight emergency news and other alerts. The alert bar accommodates two levels of information. Level 1 alerts, represented by a red bar, will be used for emergencies and will link to the DukeALERT website for additional information. Level 2 alerts, represented by an orange bar, will be used for important messages such as pending severe weather or a gas leak in a building. Download instructions for adding the DukeALERT bar to your website.
Web Fonts
Web fonts enhance design with crisp, scalable rendering. Limit to 2–3 fonts to avoid slow load times, and follow the University’s brand system for approved fonts.
Beyond SEO: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and AI Search Visibility
A website has no value if no one can find it. SEO isn’t just about ranking. It’s about making your content discoverable and trustworthy for both search engines and generative AI. With AI-driven overviews and answer engines shaping how people find information, sites must be structured, clear, and citation‑friendly to surface in these new contexts. Optimizing for traditional search and AI ensures your work reaches audiences wherever they look for answers.
Domain Names
Domain names require approval from Duke Communications, Marketing, and Public Affairs. As a general rule, try to stay away from long, cumbersome spellings or ambiguous acronyms. Use fourth level domains if possible to show associations between units and schools.
Domains obtained by third party organization are the responsibility of the purchaser and should not utilize the Duke brand without permission. Read the Duke Domain Request Policy and follow the link at the bottom of the page to complete the request form.
Analytics
Duke’s preferred platform for measuring web site traffic is Google Analytics. If you are unfamiliar with Google analytics or need help getting started, check out Google’s resources.
Accessibility
Duke sites and applications must accommodate a baseline level of accessibility to ensure our content reaches as many people as possible. Duke aims to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards, which are driven by the larger international standards organization for the internet, the W3C. These standards, first published in 2008, are based on 4 key principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust. Within these standards are 3 levels on conformance. A, AA, AAA.
Please visit the Duke Web Accessibility site for more information.
Service Level Agreements
Any work being done through a contract organization – internal or external – requires a minimum service-level agreement of 10 hours per year. Due to the changing nature of the web and the need for version and security upgrades on our preferred platforms, site owners need to identify some portion of their budget and calendar for updates and patching. Without this, sites are subject to vulnerability and attacks. Should a security breach occur, the security office may remove the affected site until it can be confirmed as no longer a risk. IT organizations such as OIT and Duke Health Technology Solutions cannot be held responsible for sites and actions that they did not create nor participate in.
Security
Duke websites present a very viable risk to the university and can provide an avenue of attack against other Duke systems. There is a direct relationship between website compromises and unpatched web environments and associated servers. In an effort to improve the security of all Duke’s websites, the IT Security Office (ITSO), Office of Information Technology (OIT) and Duke Communications, Marketing, and Public Affairs have developed guidance and options for those managing websites at Duke.
Favicons and App Icons
The Garamond “D” makes is a great option to use as the favicon for a website or the home screen icon for your app. Download the full favicon pack or use the icons hosted below.
