Third-party resources are often encouraged but they come in their own shapes and sizes. Some might be better at design, others might be better at project management. It is important that you know the skills you need to execute your project and that you prioritize those skills in your vendor selection process.
The following list are of vendors that have agreed to and met Duke’s Terms & Conditions:
The abundance of work across Duke can’t be met by the in-house resources alone. We utilize vendors from around the area including some in other areas of the country and abroad. The following guidelines have been developed to streamline the process of working with external vendors.
Duke offers a number of branded Powerpoint themes in light and dark variants for you to use to create both internal and external presentations. Additionally, the backgrounds are available for download before for use in other applications as well, such as Prezi, Keynote, etc.
Basic Word templates are available for university letterhead. If creating your own, please reference Duke’s branding guidelines when creating your own.
Duke’s Digital Signage program is a centrally managed/locally controlled electronic sign and interactive display platform powered by technology from Four Winds Interactive. Digital signage is a powerful way to communicate your message to many university locations. The service is offered at no charge and administered by the Office of Information Technology (OIT). For more information about the service, or would like to participate in the digital signage program, see the Duke Digital Signage section of the OIT Website.
Sharing Digital Flyers
Digital flyers can be requested to be added to other department signs by submitting flyers using DukeFlyer.
Content Guidelines for Digital Flyers
In an effort to maintain consistency in message and branding, we have established some basic content guidelines that should be met before displaying content. By following these simple guidelines, your message will look more professional and reach more people.
Branding
We strongly encourage the use of Duke logos and branding. These standards extend to the use of wordmarks, logos, signature colors, type fonts and other matters that affect Duke’s visual identity.
Simplicity
Overall, keep it simple. Too much text or too many images on a digital flyer will clutter your message and decrease readability. Try to use fewer than 30 words on any one flyer in order to make the greatest impact. Each flyer is only visible for 5-15 seconds so there’s no time to read much more than these 30 words.
Size
All flyers to be posted on digital signage must be sized at 1920 x 1080 pixels (horizontal) or 1080 x 1920 (vertical). Full technical details are available in OIT’s Flyer Creation Guide.
Color
Consider the colors used in your flyer carefully and maintain consistency with the Duke color palette. Ensure strong contrast between your image background colors and the text colors so that your sign can be easily read when displayed. Be sure to test the colors on the screen output before committing to the final color scheme.
Text
The text on your digital flyer needs to be readable. Use large font sizes so your message can be read without the need to stand directly in front of the screen. Try at least 40 pt for headlines and at least 24 pt for the body text. Object Strokes Use bold lines when designing objects for digital signage. Lines that are too thin do not display well and may appear broken or look invisible.
The purpose of these guidelines is to help Duke communicators understand how Duke policies apply to digital communications such as blogs and social media, and to guide them in using social media platforms. The guidelines apply to material that Duke communications offices and related units publish on Duke-hosted websites and branded Duke unit profiles such as those on Facebook and Instagram. Any questions about these guidelines should be directed to socialmedia@duke.edu. Duke Health employees should refer to the specific standards and guidelines established for Duke Health sites and digital channels.
If you’re doing app development on behalf of the University with the goal to publish your app under the Duke University brand on Apple’s App Store, you can use University app development resources. OIT has built a team of mobile app development expertise to help develop, test and launch your apps.
What We Offer
Enterprise Distribution. If you have an iOS app that you would like to distribute internal to Duke University (i.e. to staff, faculty, students) then this is what you want. We can host a build of your application and make it available on the apps.oit.duke.edu site, which will require a Duke NetID for authentication of users to download and install your app.
Beta Distribution. When you have tested your application and are ready to distribute it to external testers we can help with that too. We will work with your sign your application for distribution and set up Duke’s TestFlight platform for iOS.
Publishing on the App Store. If you are ready to release your application to the general public under Duke University brand on the App Store we will work with you to sign your application for distribution, navigate Apple’s review process, and finally, make your app available under Duke University’s account. For security reasons we maintain strict control over Duke University App Store account. When distributing an iOS apps on the Apple App Store or using our Enterprise Distribution services this security restriction means that we will need access to your source code base.
Colab
Student Resources for development projects.
If you’re a student or faculty doing app development inside the University for use by students or staff, you can use University Co-Lab development resources.
What We Offer
Co-Lab Tech Resources, including Office Hours and Slack: lab.duke.edu/resources
We maintain a list of approved app development vendors who other members of staff/faculty have used to develop mobile apps.
List of approved mobile app development vendors – contact mobiledev@oit.duke.edu for details.
Mobile App Directory
Duke University Released Applications
Public iOS applications produced by Duke University are published on Apple’s App Store. Search your iPhone App Store for “Duke University” for the latest applications.
Duke University internal Applications
Other mobile applications, intended for Duke employees/student use are available on Duke’s internal App store: dukeapps.duke.edu for details (NetID/Shiboleth authentication required).
Duke University Student Applications
Student developed applications are made available on the Colab App Store (visit appstore.colab.duke.edu for latest releases.)
Sites are complex digital spaces with evolving digital standards that can have very steep learning curves. It takes multiple teams of people to keep sites running securely and smoothly. Accessibility, security, design, and development are areas that most communicators must have a basic understanding of in order to produce an effective digital product.
Building a site at Duke may seem a little daunting but the guide below can act as a starting point for building secure, accessible, on-brand sites for your organization.
Everyone. Everyone should be able to access a public site at Duke. Duke’s Web Accessibility Initiative exists to ensure people with a wide range of abilities have equal access to Duke’s web content. It is the central resource for information, guidelines, and Duke’s official web accessibility guidelines.
Security is CRITICAL. If a site is deemed to be a security risk (through a breach or lack of appropriate security or versioning upgrades) the IT Security Office reserves the right to take a site offline until that site is cleared to be restored.
You should be aware of the following security policies and guidelines:
Acceptable Use. Establish and promote the ethical, legal, and secure use of computing and electronic communications for all members of Duke University and its affiliated entities.
Service Level Agreements – How can I keep it up?
–What does maintenance really mean?
Once a site is launched and past its QA period, sites typically move into a “maintenance” phase. Maintenance can refer to the general updates of the site but the most critical component is the upkeep needed to keep the environment (infrastructure) up to date. It is the responsibility of the site owner (department) to ensure that a maintenance agreement is in place. Restated: the platform (Drupal/WordPress), as well as the hosting space, require regular attention and updates to keep them from becoming a security risk.
If you’re working with a vendor: 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 DHTS cannot be held responsible for sites and actions that they did not create nor participate in.
Web Site Development – How do I make it?
Self-Service: Sites@Duke Express
Sites@Duke Express is a WordPress network that offers a robust set of easy-to-use tools, including Duke themes and Duke-specific plugins. The service also provides the option of a custom domain mapped to your site. There is no charge to users.
Advanced Site Building: Sites@Duke Pro
The Sites@Duke Pro platform is a new Drupal-based solution ideal for schools, departments, institutes, centers, labs, initiatives, programs, and more. It offers flexible site-building options with a professional visual design that meets Duke’s accessibility and branding guidelines. There is a low start-up cost and a monthly maintenance fee that covers all infrastructure, support, and rollout of new features and fixes as they become available.
Custom internal – Duke Web Services and other web development groups across campus
Custom websites can be developed using internal and external resources. (See Working with Vendors) After selecting your development group you will also need to coordinate hosting and domains. (see above and below). Any custom work still has an expectation to meet technical and branding requirements.
Working with External Vendors
The abundance of work across Duke can’t be met by the in-house resources alone. We utilize vendors from around the area including some in other areas of the country and abroad. The following guidelines have been developed to streamline the process of working with external vendors. Learn more about Working with Vendors.
Hosting – Where Does it Live?
Providers within Duke
OIT maintains a centralized web hosting environment that provides virtual servers (VMs) to both OIT-supported services as well as applications and services supported by the departments and schools across Duke University. To meet the needs of a majority of OIT’s VM requests and to provide a consistent offering, a set of standard offerings and processes has been created and details can be found at the following links:
**Note: Most Drupal implementations require a medium or large bronze-level machine. Most WordPress implementations require a small or medium bronze-level machine.
DHTS Centralized frameworks are based on the following technologies and platforms:
Public Web Sites: Drupal Content Management Platform (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP based).
Intranet Sites: Microsoft Sharepoint 2010 (Windows Server, IIS, MS SQL Server and .NET based)
Contact the DHTS web services group for more information.
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 are a great way to enhance your site. They provide a more creative license in our communication materials and allow more flexibility and scalability across devices. Because they are vector based they render with crisp edges, clean lines and deep color.
Fonts affect load times as well as your sites’ aesthetic. Don’t use more than 2-3 fonts per site as this will negatively impact your sites’ performance. Since they play such a vital role in a consistent brand execution, refer to the university’s brand system for current font systems and use.
As always, our legacy fonts of Interstate and Garamond are available by request. See University Logos and Fonts in the Brand Guide.
SEO
A website has no value if no one can find it. Therefore, a critical component of any online strategy is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is by no means an exact science. There is no single action or technique a website owner can employ to ensure his or her site will rank well. By following a basic set of principles for good web content design, the chances of achieving favorable rankings greatly increases.
Domain names require approval from the Office of 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 tutorials.
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 WCAG 2.0 AA standard. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are driven by the larger international standards organization for the internet, the W3C. These standards, 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.
It is important to note that web accessibility is accommodated through both the back-end development of a website AND the content that website houses. PDF’s are a big culprit of accessibility violations and it is critical that our communications professional know and understand the pitfalls of the web accessibility from all angles. Duke also has dedicated resources for educating and addressing web accessibility. Please visit the Duke Web Accessibility site for more information.
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 DHTS 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 University Communications have developed guidance and options for those managing websites at Duke.
Website Best Practices
A little goes a long way. Though there are a lot of industry standards with regards to mark up, responsive design, SEO, etc, here are general considerations to keep in mind when taking on a new project: (From Bean Creative)
Go responsive — all design is responsive design. Your content needs to be accessible whether the user is on a mobile device with a 5″ screen or a desktop computer with a 30″ screen.
Offer mobile-first design, with progressive enhancement for larger screens
Optimize accessibility to create a user experience that is fully accessible to all viewers — everything from supporting people with disabilities to serving up clear images for devices that support 3x+
Emphasize UX with good typography, leveraging the increasing number of web-specific typefaces and typekits, like Google Web Fonts, Adobe Typekit, etc.
Focus on long-form content as opposed to click-thru content
Provide CLEAR, real time feedback during form interactions. Don’t force users to guess the formatting needed, and consider small additions like auto tabbing between fields and formatting as you type to be super user-centric
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.
