embassy website modernization publishing standards...hosting of a centralized multilingual content...

U.S.DepartmentofState–IIP/PL/DILastUpdated:06/03/2016 P a g e |1 DocumentVersion–2.0

Embassy Website Modernization Publishing Standards

U.S. Mission Website Platform Program

InternationalInformationPrograms-IIP/PL/DIU.S.MissionsWebsitePlatformPublishingStandards


Table of Contents RevisionHistory.......................................................................................................................................................6

Introduction................................................................................................................................................................7

AbouttheU.S.MissionsWebsitePlatform................................................................................................7

AboutWordPress.................................................................................................................................................7

AboutthePublishingStandards....................................................................................................................8

InformationArchitecture......................................................................................................................................9

Overview..................................................................................................................................................................9

Visas.....................................................................................................................................................................10

U.S.CitizenServices......................................................................................................................................13

OurRelationship.............................................................................................................................................16

Business.............................................................................................................................................................18

Education&Culture......................................................................................................................................20

Embassy&Consulate(s).............................................................................................................................21

News&Events.................................................................................................................................................23

SystemPages....................................................................................................................................................24

DesignStandards....................................................................................................................................................25

Header.....................................................................................................................................................................25

Footer&Disclaimer..........................................................................................................................................26

PrivacyNotice&Disclaimer..........................................................................................................................27

ExternalLinkDisclaimer............................................................................................................................27

PrivacyNotice..................................................................................................................................................27

Typography...........................................................................................................................................................27

PreferredFonts...............................................................................................................................................27

AlternateFonts................................................................................................................................................27

ColorPalette.........................................................................................................................................................28

BrandColors.....................................................................................................................................................28

OtherColorsofNote.....................................................................................................................................28

SocialMedia......................................................................................................................................................28



PageTemplates...................................................................................................................................................29

PageTemplatesAvailabletoUsers........................................................................................................29

AdministratorTemplates...........................................................................................................................30

Navigation.............................................................................................................................................................31

GlobalNavigation...........................................................................................................................................31

LandingPages..................................................................................................................................................31

HomePageElements........................................................................................................................................32

AbovetheFold.................................................................................................................................................32

BelowtheFold.................................................................................................................................................34

InternalPageElements....................................................................................................................................35

BlogPostElements............................................................................................................................................36

MainBodyFeaturesandFunctions............................................................................................................38

Pagination.........................................................................................................................................................38

SocialMediaNavigation..............................................................................................................................39

EventCalendar................................................................................................................................................39

Accordion...........................................................................................................................................................40

HomePageSlider...........................................................................................................................................41

CustomSidebars.................................................................................................................................................42

GoogleMaps.....................................................................................................................................................42

LinkLists............................................................................................................................................................42

RelatedPosts....................................................................................................................................................43

RSSFeed.............................................................................................................................................................43

AdobeReader..................................................................................................................................................44

SocialLinks.......................................................................................................................................................44

Textbox...............................................................................................................................................................44

TextboxImage.................................................................................................................................................45

TextboxImageFull........................................................................................................................................45

TwitterFeed.....................................................................................................................................................46

FacebookFeed.................................................................................................................................................46

InstagramFeed...............................................................................................................................................47



FlickrFeed.........................................................................................................................................................47

SecretaryFeed.................................................................................................................................................48

POTUSFeed......................................................................................................................................................48

VPOTUSFeed...................................................................................................................................................49

Video....................................................................................................................................................................49

Shortcodes.........................................................................................................................................................49

Forms...........................................................................................................................................................................50

PDFForms.............................................................................................................................................................50

OnlineForms........................................................................................................................................................50

Photos..........................................................................................................................................................................51

GeneralGuidelinesforImages......................................................................................................................51

PhotoSizes............................................................................................................................................................52

Pages....................................................................................................................................................................52

Posts.....................................................................................................................................................................52

Miscellaneous..................................................................................................................................................52

Captions..................................................................................................................................................................53

CaptionTextLimits.......................................................................................................................................53

ALTTags................................................................................................................................................................53

PhotoCredits........................................................................................................................................................54

PhotoTips.............................................................................................................................................................54

UsefulInformation........................................................................................................................................55

Tables..........................................................................................................................................................................55

ScopeAttribute...................................................................................................................................................55

TableSummaries................................................................................................................................................56

SampleCodedTable......................................................................................................................................57

UserFriendlyPages...............................................................................................................................................58

CreatingUserFriendlyPages........................................................................................................................58

FileandURLNamingConventions.............................................................................................................58

ExternalLinks......................................................................................................................................................58

DomainNames....................................................................................................................................................58



LanguageContentDisplay..................................................................................................................................59

ContentandMaintenance...................................................................................................................................60

AccessibilityStandards........................................................................................................................................61

WhatisSection508?.........................................................................................................................................61

WebAccessibilityInitiative(WAI).............................................................................................................61

BarriertoAccess............................................................................................................................................61

WebContentAccessibilityGuidelines(WCAG).....................................................................................62

AccessibleDesign...............................................................................................................................................62

UniquePageTitle...............................................................................................................................................62

HeadingTags–ProperUse............................................................................................................................62

AccessibleVideo.................................................................................................................................................63

CaptioningandTranscripts.......................................................................................................................63

CaptioningAdvantages................................................................................................................................63

TipsforCaptioning........................................................................................................................................64

AccessiblePDFDocuments............................................................................................................................64

Appendices................................................................................................................................................................65

AppendixA–Glossary.....................................................................................................................................65

AppendixB–AdditionalServicesandInformation............................................................................71

CustomerSupportServices.......................................................................................................................71

TrainingServices............................................................................................................................................71



Revision History

Revision Description Author PeerReview ReleaseDateDraft Re-writeandre-formatoforiginalMWP

PublishingStandardsRhondaUrbanczyk RebeccaJenkins,

ClaraHall,LauraLynch,NikiDeanda

05/12/2016

DraftRevisions MakeupdatesandeditsonfeedbackprovidedfromPeerReview

RhondaUrbanczyk RebeccaJenkins,ClaraHall,LauraLynch,NikiDeanda

06/01/2016

v2.0 Minortexttweaks,IncludedLanguageoptions,updatedimagesizes,published

RhondaUrbanczyk RebeccaJenkins,ClaraHall,LauraLynch,NikiDeanda

06/03/2016



Introduction About the U.S. Missions Website Platform TheprimarypurposeoftheU.S.MissionsWebsitePlatform(MWP)istoprovidecontentmanagement,webhosting,search,andwebreportingtoolsforU.S.Missionsworldwide.ThisprojectisthevehiclebywhichIIP’scoremissionisdelivered:“Togettherightinformation,totherightpeople,attherighttime.”TheOfficeofDigitalprovidesthedeliveryplatformandinfrastructurethatfacilitatesthedevelopment,maintenance,andhostingofacentralizedmultilingualcontentmanagementsystemtostreamlinethecreationanddeliveryofhighqualityinformationforbothprintandwebcontentforEmbassyandIIPinternationalaudiences.About WordPress WordPressisafreeandopensourcebloggingtoolandaContentManagementSystem(CMS)basedonPHPHypertextPreprocessor(PHP)andMySQL.WordPress:

Ø Usesatemplatesystemconsistingofthemesthatallowsuserstochangethelook,feel,andfunctionalityoftheirwebsitewithoutalteringthesite’sinformationcontentorstructure.TherearethousandsofWordPressthemesavailable,viaopensourceorcommercialdevelopers.Usersmayalsocreateanddeveloptheirowncustomthemes,iftheyhavetheexpertisetodoso.

Ø UsespluginarchitecturethatallowsuserstoextendWordPressfunctionalities.Therearecurrentlyover35,000pluginsavailableforWordPress,offeringcustomizablefunctionsandfeaturesthatenabletheusertoenhancetheirsitestotheirspecificneeds.

Ø Supportstheuseofwidgets-smallblocksofcodethatperformaspecificfunctionfromwithinaWordPresssidebar.

Ø SupportsmobilenativeapplicationsforWebOS,Android,iOS(iPhone,iPodTouch,andiPad),WindowsPhone,andBlackBerry.LearnmoreatWordPress.org



About the Publishing Standards ThePublishingStandardsaredesignedtoprovideguidancetoallModernizedWebsiteparticipantsinanefforttopresentaunifiedandapprovedstyleforallpublicwebsites.Thispublication,createdandimplementedbytheBureauofInternationalInformationPrograms(IIP)oftheDepartmentofState(DoS),servesasareferencetowebmanagersandcontentprovidersparticipatingintheprogram.ThePublishingStandardsareintendedtobeinformativeandeasytouse,andthereforemaynotcoverthebreadthofstylequestionsthatusersmayhave.ForanyquestionnotreferencedinthePublishingStandards,pleasereachouttothe24/7/365helpdeskat:[email protected],andoneofoursupportrepresentativeswillbehappytoassist.



Information Architecture Overview TheMissionWebsitePlatforminformationarchitectureconsistsofseven(7)sections,whichrepresentthetopicsthatareofprimaryinteresttositevisitors.Thesesectionsarebrokendownintosubcategories,whichcanbetterassistvisitorsinfindingspecificinformation.

Thesevensectionsareorganizedtoincludeinformationthatisspecifictovisas,U.S.citizenservices,thebilateralrelationshipbetweentheUnitedStatesandthehostcountry,business,education&culture,thephysicallocationofthemission(s),andnews&events.

Whendevelopingtheinformationarchitectureand,insomecases,thecontentofthesesections,IIPworkedverycloselywithConsularAffairs(CA),Education&Culture(ECA),andtheEconomicBureau.

Inadditiontoconsistentinformationarchitecture,thereareseveralsidebaritemsthroughoutthesitethatarerequired.Thesearelistedwiththeirrespectivesections.

Thereareguidelines–outlinedbelow–thatdeterminewhatpagesandlabelscanbemodified.TheseguidelinesarespecificfortheEnglishlanguagewebsites.Poststhatsupportalanguagewebsitemayeditlocallanguagelabelsandsectionsasappropriate.

Inordertoensurecompliancewiththeinformationarchitectureandthestandardizedcontentandnamingconventions,therearepagesinthesitethatarenoteditablebywebmanagers.Thesepagesarealsonoted.Ifanychangesarerequired,pleasecontactthe24/7/365helpdeskat:[email protected].



Visas TheVisassectionofthewebsiteisdeliveredintwoversions,GSSorNon-GSSlocations.Locationsthatusea3rdpartytoprovidevisaservicesareconsideredGSS,andthosethatprovideallvisaservicesattheEmbassyareNon-GSS.GSSInformationArchitecture

PageName CanLabelBeChanged? IsPagerequired? WebManagerEdits?VISAS(LANDINGPAGE) NO YES NO

NONIMMIGRANTVISAS NO YES NOIMMIGRANTVISAS NO YES NO

FAMILY-BASEDIMMIGRATION NO NO YES

FIANCÉ(E)VISA NO NO YESEMPLOYMENT-BASEDIMMIGRATION NO NO YES

DIVERSITYVISAPROGRAM NO NO YES

RETURNINGRESIDENTVISA NO NO YES

VISAWAIVERPROGRAM NO NO YESTRAVEL&TOURISMINTHEU.S. NO YES NO

GSSMegamenu



Non-GSSInformationArchitecture

PageName CanLabelBeChanged? IsPagerequired? WebManagerEdits?VISAS(LANDINGPAGE) NO YES NO

NONIMMIGRANTVISAS NO ISNOTAPAGE NOTOURISM&VISIT NO YES YESTEMPORARYEMPLOYMENT NO YES YES

STUDY&EXCHANGE NO YES YESOTHER YES NO YES

IMMIGRANTVISAS NO ISNOTAPAGE NOFAMILY-BASEDIMMIGRATION NO YES YES

FIANCÉ(E)VISA NO YES YESEMPLOYMENT-BASEDIMMIGRATION NO YES YES

DIVERSITYVISAPROGRAM NO YES YES

RETURNINGRESIDENTVISA NO NO YES

VISAWAIVERPROGRAM NO NO YESTRAVEL&TOURISMINTHEU.S. NO YES NO

Non-GSSMegamenu



RequiredSidebarItems–VisasLandingPage

AdditionalResources ContactUs GovernmentAgencyLinks

RequiredSidebarItems–NonimmigrantVisasPage(s)


RequiredSidebarItems–ImmigrantVisasPage(s)




U.S. Citizen Services

PageName CanLabelBeChanged? IsPagerequired? WebManagerEdits?U.S.CITIZENSERVICES(LANDINGPAGE) NO YES NO

EMERGENCYSERVICES NO ISNOTAPAGE NOCONTACTINFORMATION NO YES YESARRESTOFAU.S.CITIZEN NO YES YES

DEATHOFAU.S.CITIZEN NO YES YES

VICTIMSOFCRIME NO YESEMERGENCYFINANCIALASSISTANCE NO

SECURITYMESSAGES&LOCALRESOURCES NO ISNOTAPAGE NO

SAFETY&SECURITYMESSAGES NO YES NO

LOCALRESOURCESFORU.S.CITIZENS NO YES YES

EMERGENCYASSISTANCE NO YES YES

LEGALASSISTANCE NO YES YES

MEDICALASSISTANCE NO YES YES

PASSPORTS&CITIZENSHIP NO ISNOTAPAGE NOCITIZENSHIPSERVICES NO NO YESPASSPORTS NO YES YES

FEDERALBENEFITS NO ISNOTAPAGE NOINTERNALREVENUESERVICE NO YES YES

SELECTIVESERVICEREGISTRATION NO YES YES

SOCIALSECURITY NO YES YESVETERANSAFFAIRS NO YES YESVOTING NO YES YES

CHILD&FAMILYMATTERS NO ISNOTAPAGE NOADOPTION NO NO YESBIRTH NO YES YESINTERNATIONALPARENTALCHILDABDUCTION

NO YES YES

U.S.CitizenServicesMegamenu



RequiredSidebarItems–U.S.CitizenServicesLandingPage

STEP SendingMoneyOverseas

RequiredSidebarItems–Safety&SecurityMessages

STEP MoreInformation

RequiredSidebarItems–InternalRevenueService

AdditionalResources AdobeReader



RequiredSidebarItems–OtherFederalBenefits

AdditionalResources–SocialSecurity AdditionalResources–SocialSecurity

AdditionalResources-VeteransAffairs AdditionalResources-Voting

RequiredSidebarItems–InternationalParentalChildAbduction

ContactUs AdditionalResources

LocalResourcesDisclaimerAllpagesunder“LocalResources”thatlistlinkstoexternalsourcesmustincludetheCA-approveddisclaimerinBlockquote:

LocalResourcesDisclaimer



Our Relationship

PageName CanLabelBeChanged? IsPagerequired? WebManagerEdits?OURRELATIONSHIP(LANDINGPAGE) NO YES NO

U.S.MISSIONLEADERS NO ISNOTAPAGE NOAMBASSADOR[NAME] NAMEONLY YES YESDEPUTYCHIEFOFMISSION[NAME] NAMEONLY YES YES

CONSULGENERAL[NAME] NAMEONLY YES,IFTHEREARE

CONSULATES YES

U.S.GOVERNMENTLEADERS NO ISNOTAPAGE NOPRESIDENT NO YES NOVICEPRESIDENT NO YES NOSECRETARYOFSTATE NO YES NO

U.S.&[HOSTCOUNTRY] NO ISNOTAPAGE NOPOLICY&HISTORY NO YES YESOFFICIALREPORTS NO YES YES

FEATUREDEVENT YES NO YES

OurRelationshipMegamenu

RequiredSidebarItems–OurRelationshipLandingPage

RelatedLinks



RequiredSidebarItems–Policy&HistoryPages

UsefulLinks History@StateTwitterFeed

RequiredSidebarItems–OfficialReportsPage

AdditionalResources FeaturedEvent–DetailsWebmanagersmaychoosetospotlightaneventintheFEATUREDEVENTcolumnoftheMegamenu.Thefollowingguidelinesapply:

1. The24/7/365helpdeskcanimplementtheFEATUREDEVENTcolumn.Pleasee-mailthehelpdeskatembassy@america.govforassistance.

2. “FeaturedEvent”isaplaceholdertitleonly–itshouldbereplacedwiththetitleoftheevent.

3. A243x115pixelimagemustbeprovided.

4. Abriefdescription(nomorethan200words)shouldbeprovided.

5. AFeaturedEventtemplateisrecommended.



Business

PageName CanLabelBeChanged? IsPagerequired? WebManagerEdits?BUSINESS(LANDINGPAGE) NO YES NO

DOINGBUSINESSIN[COUNTRY] NO ISNOTAPAGE NO

GETTINGSTARTED NO YES YESCOMMERCIALOPPORTUNITIES NO NO YES

OVERSEASSECURITYADVISORYCOUNCIL NO YES YES

ECONOMICDATA&REPORTS NO YES YES

DOINGBUSINESSINTHEU.S. NO ISNOTAPAGE NOGETTINGSTARTEDINTHEU.S. NO YES YES

ECONOMICDATA&REPORTS NO YES YES

BusinessMegamenu



RequiredSidebarItems–DoingBusinessin[HostCountry]andDoingBusinessintheU.S.Pages

ContactUs TradeLeads QuickLinks



Education & Culture

PageName CanLabelBeChanged? IsPagerequired? WebManagerEdits?EDUCATION&CULTURE(LANDINGPAGE) NO YES NO

STUDYINTHEU.S.A. NO ISNOTAPAGE NOSTUDYINTHEU.S.A NO YES YES

AMERICANSPACES NO NO NOSPACEONE YES NO YESSPACETWO YES NO YESOPTIONAL YES NO YES

LOCALPROGRAMS NO NO YESPROGRAMONE YES NO YESPROGRAMTWO YES NO YESOPTIONAL YES NO YES

FEATUREDPROGRAM YES NO YES

Education&CultureMegamenu–DefaultOptions

TheEducation&Culturesectionofthewebsiteprovidesagreatdealofflexibilityforwebmanagerstodisplaylocalprogramsandresourcesfortheirvisitors.TheaboveexampleisthedefaultoptionforEducation&Culture,howeverthe3leftcolumnsareflexibleandmaybeusedtodisplaylistsoflinks(asshown)orasinglespotlightasdepictedintheStudyintheU.S.A.andFEATUREDPROGRAMcolumns.TousetheFEATUREDPROGRAMcolumn,thefollowingguidelinesapply:

1. The24/7/365helpdeskcanimplementtheFEATUREDPROGRAMcolumn.Pleasee-mailthehelpdeskatembassy@america.govforassistance.

2. “FeaturedProgram”isaplaceholdertitleonly–itshouldbereplacedwiththetitleoftheprogram.



5. Anytemplatemaybeused,howeverFeaturedEventandPaginationworkbest.



Embassy & Consulate(s)

PageName CanLabelBeChanged? IsPagerequired? WebManagerEdits?EMBASSY&CONSULATE(S)(LANDINGPAGE) NO YES NO

U.S.EMBASSY NO ISNOTAPAGE NOCITYNAME NO YES YES

U.S.CONSULATE(S) NO ISNOTAPAGE NOCONSULATEONE NO NO YESCONSULATETWO NO NO YESOTHERSASREQUIRED NO NO YES

EMBASSYSPOTLIGHT YES NO YESWORKWITHUS(JOBS) YES NO YES

Embassy&ConsulatesMegamenu

RequiredSidebarItems–Embassy&Consulate(s)LandingPage

Holidays



EmbassySpotlight–DetailsWebmanagersmaychoosetospotlightaneventintheEMBASSYSPOTLIGHTcolumnoftheMegamenu.Thefollowingguidelinesapply:

1. The24/7/365helpdeskcanimplementtheEMBASSYSPOTLIGHTcolumn.Pleasee-mailthehelpdeskatembassy@america.govforassistance.

2. “EmbassySpotlight”isaplaceholdertitleonly–itshouldbereplacedwithanappropriatetitle.



7. Anytemplatemaybeused,howeverFeaturedEventandPaginationworkbest.RecommendedSidebarItems–Embassy&ConsulateInternalPages

GoogleMap ContactUs HolidayCalendar IIPalsostronglyrecommendsimplementingtheSOCIALMEDIAsidebaronallEmbassyandConsulatepages.



News & Events TheNews&EventsMegamenuiscategory-driven.Whichcategoriesdisplayisdeterminedbythewebmanagerandisimplementedbythe24/7/365helpdesk.Sitesmaydisplaybetween3and9categoriesintheleftcolumnoftheNews&EventsMegamenu,andwhenthevisitorhoversoverthem,the4mostrecentpostsforthecategorywilldisplayinthe4rightcolumnsoftheMegamenu.

News&EventsMegamenu

RequiredSidebarItems–News&EventsLandingPage

BlogFilter/Search Topic/CategoryList



DefaultSidebarItems–IndividualPosts

Topics/CategoryList RecentPosts

NOTE:IFTHEREISCONTENTFORACUSTOMSIDEBARONABLOGPOST,SUCHASANASSOCIATEDVIDEO,LINKSORPDFS,WEBMANAGERSMAYCHOOSETOUSETHECUSTOMSIDEBAROPTION.

System Pages Eachwebsitehasthree(3)systempages.Thesepagesarenoteditablebywebmanagersandarestandardinallsites:

1. Sitemap–Automaticallygenerated,thesitemapdisplaysallpageswithinthesiteina“tree”view.

2. SocialMediaProperties–aCountry’ssocialmediapropertiesarelistedonthispage,bothforEmbassyandConsulatelocations.

3. Privacy–TheprivacypolicyisapprovedbylegalandisrequiredineachU.S.Missionwebsite.



Design Standards Header TheHEADERistheprimarybrandingofeachU.S.Missionsiteandisconsistentthroughouttheenterprise.TheHEADERappearsoneverypageandpostwithinthesite.

StandardHeader

1. DepartmentofStateOfficialSeal.

2. LocalBranding–Tomaintainconsistency,thefollowinglabelsmustbeused,

dependingonthesituationin-country:

a. U.S.Embassyin[HostCountry]b. U.S.Embassy&Consulate(s)in[HostCountry]c. U.S.Consulatein[HostCity]d. U.S.Missionto[Country]e. U.S.Missionto[InternationalOrganization]

3. LanguageSelector.

4. SocialMediaandSearchButtons.

a. Three(3)SocialMediabuttonsmayappearintheheader.The“+”linkstotheSOCIALMEDIAPROPERTIESpage,whichlistsallSocialMediawithinthecountry.

NOTE:IFANEXCEPTIONTOTHELOCALBRANDINGARISES,THEMODERNIZATIONTEAMWILLWORKCLOSELYWITHIIPSENIORMANAGEMENT,THELOCALTEAMINCOUNTRY,ANDTHEREGIONALPOLICYOFFICETOPROVIDEASOLUTIONBASEDONJUSTIFIABLENEEDS.



Footer & Disclaimer TheFOOTERisthesecondbrandedelementofthesiteandisconsistentthroughouttheenterprise.TheFOOTERappearsoneverypageandpostwithinthesite.

StandardFooter

1. GlobalNavigation–ThisincludesallitemsdisplayedintheMegamenu,inaddition

tosystempages,suchastheprivacypage.

2. EmbassyDetailsa. CityName,linkedtointernalpage.b. Addressc. Phoned. Faxe. SocialMediaProperties

3. Consulates

a. EachConsulatecity,withalinktotherespectiveinternalpage.

4. OfficialDisclaimer.

5. U.S.Flag.



Privacy Notice & Disclaimer External Link Disclaimer PerDepartmentofStatepolicy,thefollowingdisclaimerisrequiredonallofficialwebsites:“ThisistheofficialwebsiteoftheU.S.Embassy&Consulatesin[HostCountry].ExternallinkstootherInternetsitesshouldnotbeconstruedasanendorsementofthevieworprivacypoliciescontainedtherein.”Privacy Notice Inaccordancewith5FAM772,allU.S.Governmentwebsitesarerequiredtoprovideastatementthatdescribeshowuserinformationmaybetrackedaswellaswhatisdonewithinformationcollectedfromusers.Federalwebsitesmustcontainaprivacypolicystatement,evenifthesitedoesnotcollectanyinformationthatresultsincreatingaPrivacyActrecord.EverywebsiteproducedbytheDepartmentisrequiredtoprovideaPrivacyActstatement,regardlessofwhatnetworkthesiteresideson.Typography TheU.S.MissionWebsitePlatformusesseveralfontfamilies:Preferred Fonts

§ SiteHeader:Oswald22points§ PostHeader:Oswald24points§ BodyText:Roboto16points

Alternate Fonts

§ SiteHeader:Arial,San-serif§ H1–H6:Arial,San-serif§ Body:Arial,Helvetica,San-serif



Color Palette Properuseofcolorcanbeextremelyeffectiveforcreatingperceptualeffectsandcanreinforcethelayout,whichwillallowforincreasedcomprehensionforthevisitor.Agooduseofcolorcanmakeanitemthatwouldotherwisebelostonthepage,popout,emphasizeimportantinformation,andvisuallygrouprelateditemstogether.TheprimarycolorsfortheDepartmentofStateU.S.MissionWebsitePlatformarerepresentedbelow.ThecolorswereselectedbasedupontheoverallbrandingofotherStateDepartmentwebsitesandhistoricalbrandingforEmbassywebsites.Brand Colors Brandcolorsareusedin:TheHeader,Footer,SidebarBoxes,NewsletterSign-upBoxandtheMegamenu.

#003875 #06284C #FFFFFF #CC3333

Other Colors of Note Someadditionalcolorsthatappearthroughoutthewebsiteareworthnoting

#EFEFEF #DDDDDD #FFDB67

BrandGrey BorderGrey TSGNotification

BarSocial Media TheofficialcolorsofFacebookandTwitter

#47639E #55ACEE

Facebook Twitter



Page Templates Foreaseofusewhencreatingcontent,theU.S.MissionWebsitePlatformprovidescustomtemplatesspecificallydesignedforusebywebmanagersinthefield.Thesetemplatesaddressmanydifferentcontentscenarios,themostcommonofwhicharenotedbelow.Page Templates Available to Users

• PageTitleCharacterLimit–150

TemplateName CommonandRecommendedUses

AmbassadorPage § LeaderBiographies,specificallyAmbassador,DCM,ConsulsGeneral.

§ TopImage/Video.§ NameTitleFieldLimit–130characters.

DefaultPage § Mostallpagesusethedefaulttemplate.§ Paginationisavailable.§ Accordionisavailable.§ Images–Limit2.

FeaturedEventPage § Specialevents,featuredprograms,Embassyspotlight,etc.

§ TopImage/Video.§ Taggedblogrolldisplaysthe6latestposts.§ ContentTextLimit–1300characters.

HolidaysPage § U.S.andlocalholidays.§ Displaylimitof12calendarmonths.§ EventTitleTextLimit–75characters.§ NoSidebar.

ImageVideoPage § ThispageiscurrentlyusedfortheStudyintheUSApageandtheTravel&Tourismpage.Itmaybeusedinanysectionthatrequiresanimage-heavylookandfeel.

§ Limitof20contentboxes.§ BoxHeadingTextLimit–75characters.§ BoxContentTextLimit–340characters.




ListingPage § Anypagethatrequiresalisting,eachlistitemcanalsoaccommodateabriefdescription.

§ Limitof10linksperpage.§ LinkTextLimit–100characters.§ DescriptionTextLimit–1300characters.

PeoplePage § UsefulforKeyOfficerpagesorsimilar.§ Limitof15items.§ NameTitleTextLimit–130characters.§ ContentTextLimit–1300characters.

Administrator Templates


HomePage § Flipboxesandblogrollcanbechangedviathe24/7/365helpdesk.

LandingPage § ToplevelpagesforallMegamenusections.§ Limitedto10linkspersection.

LocationPage § UsedexclusivelyfortheEmbassy&Consulate(s)landingpage.

TravelAlertPage § AutomaticallypopulatedbyTravel.state.govanditemsfromtheNews&Eventssectionwiththe“Security&EmergencyMessages”category.



Navigation Global Navigation Dropdownmenus(theMegamenu)allowone-clickaccesstoalltop-levelpages.Visitorscanseethedepthofthewebsitewithouthavingtoclickthrougheverypage.Inaddition,visitorshaveeasyaccesstoin-countrylocations.

Megamenu(GlobalNavigation)

§ Eachsitedisplaystheseven(7)maincontentsections.

§ Sectionnamesremainconsistentthroughouttheenterpriseandmaynotbe

changed.Landing Pages

LandingPageExample

§ Eachcontentsectionofthesiteisrepresentedwithalandingpage.

§ ThelandingpagewillmirrortheMegamenudrop-down.

§ Landingpagesmayhavesidebars.

§ Onlythe24/7/365helpdeskmayeditLandingpages.



Home Page Elements Above the Fold

TopHalfofHomePage

1. StandardHeader.

2. AlertBar–Controlledbythewebmanager,maybeusedforimportantlocal

messages.

3. Megamenu.

4. Slideshow:a. Displaysupto5items.



b. MayembedYouTubevideos.c. ImageSize:1140x440pixels,minimum.d. TitleLimit–60characters.e. AnchorTextLimit–80characters.f. DescriptionTextLimit–300characters.

5. FlipBoxes:

a. VisasandU.S.CitizenServicesboxesrequiredtobeplacedinspots1and2inallwebsites.

b. Maydisplay3boxesor6boxes.c. Onlythe24/7/365helpdeskcanchangeflipboxes.d. Newflipboxesmustbeapprovedbeforeimplementation.



Below the Fold

BottomHalfofHomePage

6. Blogroll:

a. Displayspostsfromcategoriesselectedbythewebmanager.Thesecategoriesmaybeupdatedbycontactingthe24/7/365helpdesk.

b. Displaysupto6itemsonpageload.c. Visitormayclick“ShowMore”toloadanadditionalsixitems–thisactionis

repeatableandwilldisplaya“ShowAll”buttonafterthree(3)clicks.

7. StandardFooter.



Internal Page Elements

InternalPageElements

1. StandardHeader.

2. AlertBar–Appearsoneverypagewhenactive.

3. Megamenu.

4. MainBodyContent–Displayvariesdependingontemplateinuse.

a. TitleTextLimit-150

5. Sidebar.

a. SidebarBoxLimit-8

6. StandardFooter.



Blog Post Elements

BlogPostExample



1. StandardHeader.

2. Megamenu.

3. PostTitle.a. TitleTextLimit–150characters.

4. FeaturedImage.

a. Imagesizerequirementsvarybytemplate.b. Thisimagepopulatestherestofthesite(blogroll,News&Eventsdropdown,

suggestedforyou,relatedcontent,etc.)

5. AddThissharingbuttons–Allowsvisitorstoeasilysharecontentontheirsocialmediapages.

6. MainContent–Canaccommodateavarietyofcontent:a. Textb. Multipleimagesc. Embeddedvideod. EmbeddedWordPressgalleriese. EmbeddedFlickrGalleriesf. EmbeddedSocialFeeds(Twitter,Instagram)

7. DefaultSidebar–DynamicallygeneratedandupdatedbasedonNews&Events

content:a. Categories–analphabeticallistingofallcategoriesbeingusedthroughout

thesite.The“Exclude”categorydoesnotdisplay.b. RecentPosts–displaysthe5mostrecentpostsintheNews&Eventssection

ofthesite.

8. Metadata–Providesinformationaboutthepost:a. AuthorName–IIPrecommendsthatGenericAuthornamesbeused

wheneverpossible.i.e.PublicAffairs,ConsularAffairs,U.S.Embassy[City],etc.

b. Date–thedatethatthecontentwasposted:“Day,Month,Year”format.c. Categories–Anycategorieswhichareassociatedwiththepost(“Exclude”

doesnotdisplay)d. Tags–Anytagsassociatedwiththepost.



9. SuggestedForYou–Recentcontentsimilartothecurrentpost.ThisisdeterminedbytheselectedCategoriesandTags

10. StandardFooter. Main Body Features and Functions Pagination

PaginationExample

1. Itemsincludedinthepagination.Thevisitormayclickthelinkstonavigatethe

section.a. Thefirstchildpageinpaginationisrequiredtobeanexactduplicateofthe

parentpage.

2. PageContent.

3. Next/Previousnavigationallowsease-of-useonmobiledevices.

4. Sidebar.

5. Paginationislimitedto10items.



Social Media Navigation SocialMediaisspotlightedinseveraldifferentwaysintheMissionWebsitePlatform:

1. SiteHeader.

2. SiteFooter.

3. Sidebars,whichcanbeaddedtoanypageinthesite.

Event Calendar TheMissionWebsitePlatformincludestheabilitytocreateandembedanEventCalendar:

1. OneEventCalendarmaybecreatedpersite.

2. Thecalendarmaybeembeddedwithinthemainbodyofapagebyusingtheshortcode:[CALENDAR].

3. ThecalendarmaybeembeddedinasidebarwiththeShortcodebox,usingtheshortcode:[CALENDARtype=mini].



Accordion

AnexampleofanaccordionusedonthePassportspage

1. AccordionsmaybeusedonDefaultpagetemplates.

2. MorethanoneAccordionmaybeusedonapage.

3. Eachpagemaydisplayupto200totalAccordionitems.

4. Accordionsareintendedtodisplaysmallpiecesofinformationthatmakesensegroupedtogether,suchasFAQs,step-by-stepinstructions,contactssortedbyregion,etc.



Home Page Slider

HomePageSliderexample

1. Displaysupto5items.

2. MayembedYouTubevideos.

3. ImageSize:1140x440pixels,minimum.

4. TitleLimit–60characters.

5. AnchorTextLimit–80characters.

6. DescriptionTextLimit–300characters.



Custom Sidebars ASidebarisaverticalcolumnthatdisplaysontherightsideofapageorpost.SidebaritemsaredesignedtoenhancetheMissionWebsitePlatformthemeandareintendedtoprovidewebmanagerswithamannerofdisplayingcontentthatiscomplementarytothemaincontentofapage.

§ Themaximumwidthofasidebaris300pixels.

§ Uptoeight(8)sidebaritemsmayappearonapage.

§ SidebarTitleLimit–60characters.

§ AnchorTextLimit–80characters.

Google Maps

• GoogleMapsmaybeembeddedonanypageorpostwithinthesite.

• Onemapembedmaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

GoogleMapSidebar

Link Lists

• LinkListsmaybeembeddedonanypageorpostwithinthesite.

• Upto4LinkListsboxesmaydisplayonanypageorpost.

• Eachboxmaydisplayupto10links.• AnchorTextLimit–80characters.

LinkListSidebar



Related Posts

• RelatedPostsmaybeembeddedonanypageinthesite.

• OneRelatedPostsboxmaybedisplayedonapage.

• IIPRecommendsthattheRelatedPostssidebarnotbeusedonposts.

RelatedPostsSidebar

RSS Feed

• RSSFeedsmaybeembeddedonanypageorpostinthesite.

• OneRSSFeedboxmaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

• Upto4feedsmaybeincludedinanRSSFeedbox.

• SourceTextLimit–60characters.

RSSFeedSidebar



Adobe Reader

• TheAdobeReadersidebarmustbeembeddedonanypageorpostinthesitethatcontainsalinktoaPDFdocument.

• OnlyoneAdobeReadersidebaritemisnecessaryapageorpost.

AdobeReaderSidebar

Social Links

• SocialLinksmaybeembeddedonanypageorpostinthesite.

• OneSocialLinksitemmaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

• NewSocialLinksareaddedasrequired,andwillbecommunicatedtothefieldwhentheyareimplemented.

SocialLinksSidebar

Textbox

• Textboxmaybeembeddedonanypageorpostinthesite.

• Upto4Textboxboxesmaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

• Textboxboxeshavea1000characterlimit(thisincludesanyHTMLtags).

TextboxSidebar



Textbox Image

• TextboxImagemaybeembeddedonanypageorpostinthesite.

• OneTextboxImageboxmaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

• 4Linksmaybedisplayed.• Imagesusedinthissidebaritem

mustbeaminimumof50x50pixels.• AnchorTextLimit–80characters.• DescriptionTextLimit–240

characters. TextboxImageSidebar

Textbox Image Full

• TextboxImageFullmaybeembeddedonanypageorpostinthesite.

• OneTextboxImageFullboxmaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

• 4Linksmaybedisplayed.• Imagesusedinthissidebaritem

mustbeaminimumof312x125pixels.

• AnchorTextLimit–80characters.• DescriptionTextLimit–240

characters.

TextboxImageFullSidebar



Twitter Feed

• ATwitterFeedmaybeembeddedonanypageorpostinthesite.

• OneTwitterFeedmaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

TwitterFeedSidebar

Facebook Feed

• AFacebookFeedorPostmaybeembeddedonanypageorpostinthesite.

• OneFacebookFeedboxmaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

FacebookFeedSidebar



Instagram Feed

• AnInstagramFeedmaybeembeddedonanypageorpostinthesite.

• OneInstagramFeedmaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

InstagramFeedSidebar

Flickr Feed

• AFlickrFeedmaybeembeddedonanypageorpostinthesite.

• OneFlickrFeedmaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

FlickrFeedSidebar



Secretary Feed

• TheSecretaryFeedisaTwitterfeedthatisautomaticallygeneratedbyIIPandmaybeembeddedonanypageinthesite.

• OneSecretaryFeedmaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

• TheSecretaryFeed’sprimarylocationwithinthesiteisontheSecretarybiopage.

SecretaryFeedSidebar

POTUS Feed

• ThePOTUSFeedisaTwitterfeedthatisautomaticallygeneratedbyIIPandmaybeembeddedonanypageinthesite.

• OnePOTUSFeedmaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

• ThePOTUSFeed’sprimarylocationwithinthesiteisontheSecretarybiopage.

POTUSFeedSidebar



VPOTUS Feed

• TheVPOTUSFeedisaTwitterfeedthatisautomaticallygeneratedbyIIPandmaybeembeddedonanypageinthesite.

• OneVPOTUSFeedmaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

• TheVPOTUSFeed’sprimarylocationwithinthesiteisontheSecretarybiopage.

VPOTUSFeedSidebar

Video

• AYouTubeorVimeovideomaybeembeddedonanypageorpostinthesite.

• Onevideomaybedisplayedonapageorpost.

EmbedVideoSidebar

Shortcodes

• Shortcodesareusedtoeasilydisplaycontentthatisusedthroughoutthesite,suchascontactinformation.

• Shortcodesmaybeusedonanypageorpost.• Upto4Shortcodeboxesmaybeusedonanypageorpost.



Forms PDF Forms PDFformsmaybeuploadedtotheWordPressMediaLibraryforusewithinthesite.AllPDFformsmustcontainanOMBnumberandexpirationdate.AdditionalguidelinesforPDFforms:

1. Wheneverpossible,linktotheoriginalformatitsoriginsite.Someexamplesoftheseformsandtheirsitesare:

a. PassportForms:http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/apply.html

b. AdditionalACSForms:http://www.state.gov/m/a/dir/forms/c21447.htmc. VisaForms:http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/forms.htmld. GrantForms:http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/sample/SF424_2_1-

V2.1.pdfe. EmploymentForm:

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/136408.pdf

2. AllPDFformsshouldopeninanewbrowsertaborwindow.

3. Usersmaycreatetranslationsofselectedformsinthelocallanguage:a. TranslationsmustbeexactduplicatesoftheEnglishform,includingtheOMB

numberandexpirationdate.b. Usersmaynotaddordeleteanyfieldsintranslatedversionsofforms.

ItisimportanttonotethatalluniquePDFformsrequireareviewandmayneedapprovalfromtheOfficeofManagementandBudget(OMB)beforetheymaybeimplemented.

Online Forms OnlineformsaresupportedintheMissionWebsitePlatform.Torequestimplementationofanonlineform,e-mailthe24/7/365helpdeskat:embassy@america.gov.ItisimportanttonotethatallformrequestsrequireareviewandmayneedapprovalfromtheOfficeofManagementandBudget(OMB)beforetheymaybeimplemented.Onlineformrequestsmustincludethefollowinginformation:

1. AvalidState.gove-mailaddress,whichiswheretheformwillbesubmitted.

2. Thedestinationpagewherethevisitorwillre-directafterformsubmission.

3. Textforthedestinationpage,thisiswhatthevisitorwillseeafterformsubmission.



Photos Whenusedproperly,graphicscanbesuperiortotextwhenavisitorfirstentersasite.Theycanbeperceivedfasterthantextandareabletosaymorewithless.Thethreeprimaryfunctionsofagraphicare:

1. Helpvisitorsmakeadecision.

2. Communicateinformation.

3. Makecontentmorevisuallyappealing.

Itisgoodpracticenottousegraphicsextensively.Althougheffective,graphicsarenotasubstituteforwords.Inaddition,notallvisitorshavereliablehigh-speedInternetconnectionsandthesevisitorscanbecomefrustratedwhenthepagetheywantdoesnotloadquickly.

General Guidelines for Images

• Maximumfilesize:25megabytes

• Eachpageshouldbekeptsmallinsizeforeaseofviewing.

• AllimagesshouldbeuploadedtotheMediaLibrary(donotlinktoexternalimages).



Photo Sizes PhotosizeswithintheMissionWebsitePlatformvarydependingontheirpurpose.Thefollowingarefeaturesthatrequireaspecificimagesizeandtheirrequirements:Pages

1. HomePageSlider–1140x440pixels,minimum.

2. DefaultTemplateImageOne–450pixels,minimumheight.

3. DefaultTemplateImageTwo–200x200pixels,minimum.

4. AmbassadorTemplate–Nominimumrequired,recommendatleast200pixels

wide.

5. FeaturedEventPage–750x350pixels,minimum.

6. Image/VideoPageMainImage–750x350pixels,minimum.

7. Image/VideoPageBoxContent–360x233,minimum.

8. ListingPage–750x350pixels,minimum.

9. PeoplePage–258x258pixels,minimum.Posts UploadedasFeatureImages

1. FeaturedImage–750x350pixels,minimum.

2. ParallaxImage–750x350pixels,minimum.

a. ParallaxBackgroundField–1200x560pixels,minimum.

3. ParallaxTransparent–750x350pixels,minimum.

a. ParallaxBackgroundField–1772x827pixels,minimum.

4. FullWidthImagePost–940x439pixels,minimum.

Miscellaneous

1. Sidebar,Textbox–Nowiderthan298pixels.

2. Sidebar,TextboxImage–50x50pixels,minimum.

3. Sidebar,TextboxImageFull–312x125pixels,minimum.

4. MegamenuImage–243x115pixels.



Captions Captionsarerequiredonallphotos:

1. Captionsshouldprovideinformationthatenablesthevisitortofullyunderstandthe

purposeofthephotowithoutconfusion.

2. Captionsshouldberelativelyshortandtothepoint.

3. Captionsshouldrefertothepeopleorobjectsinthephotowithoutambiguity.

4. Specificinformationrequiredincaptionsvariesfromonephototothenext.

5. Thebestpracticeistoidentifypeoplefromlefttoright,unlesstheactioninthe

photodemandsotherwise.

6. Captionsshouldalwaysbetranslatedwhenplacedonalanguagesite.

NOTE:CAPTIONSDONOTDISPLAYONTHEAMBASSADORPAGEMAINIMAGEORONFEATUREDIMAGES.Caption Text Limits

1. HomePageSlider–300characters.

2. DefaultPageImage–200characters.

3. AmbassadorImage–nocaption.

4. FeaturePhotos–300characters.

5. PhotoGalleries–300characters.

6. AdditionalPhotos–300characters.

ALT Tags ALTtagsarerequiredonallimageswithinthewebsite.Thisincludesphotos,logos,drawingsorothergraphics.ALTtagsarerequiredtomeetSection508compliancestandards(SeeAccessibilityStandards–Section508,below).

1. ALTtagsshoulddescribetheimage’scontentratherthanidentifypersonsorplaces(thefunctionofthecaption).

2. CaptioninformationhaslittleornomeaningforvisuallyimpairedusersandshouldnotbeusedastheALTtag.However,usingthecaptionasanALTtagispreferabletoleavingitblank.



3. ALTtagsshouldalwaysbetranslatedwhenplacedonalanguagesite.NOTE:ALTTAGSDONOTDISPLAYONHOVER.THESETAGSAREINTHESOURCECODEOFTHEPAGESOTHATSCREENREADERSCANIDENTIFYTHEM.Photo Credits AccordingtoWebcontent.gov,theU.S.FederalGovernment’ssiteforofficialwebpublishingguidance,“…whenanorganizationusesorduplicatesinformationavailablefromtheprivatesectoraspartofaninformationresource,product,orservice,theorganizationmustensurethatthepropertyrightsoftheprivatesectorsourceareadequatelyprotected.Theseprotectionsapplytoanymaterialpostedtofederalpublicwebsites,suchasdocuments,graphics,oraudiofiles.”PhotocreditsinU.S.MissionwebsitesarerequiredintheALTtagofthephotograph.Forexample:“Manstandingatpodium(StateDept.)”or“AudienceMembers(APPhotos)”.Itisstronglyrecommendedthatanyphotoover200x200pixelscontainaphotocreditembeddedwiththeimage.NOTE:ONLYPHOTOGRAPHSMUSTHAVECREDITINFORMATION.LOGOS,DRAWINGS,OROTHERGRAPHICSDONOTREQUIREUSEOFAPHOTOCREDIT.Photo Tips

1. Besurethatallimagesaresizedcorrectlyfortheirpurpose.

2. Alwaysresizeimagesinanimage-editingprogramintheiroriginalformat.

3. Settheresolutionto72dpi.Higherresolutionwillnotprovideasharperpicture,justalargerfile.

4. ProvideanALTtagforallphotos.

5. Includethecreditinformationforallphotos.

6. Selectthecorrectfiletypeformaximumoptimization:a. Photos-.PNG,.JPG(.JPEG),or.GIFb. Images-PNG,.JPG(.JPEG),or.GIF



Useful Information

1. GIFsarebestforflatcolorimageswithnogradients.

2. GIFsprovidethelowestfilesizeforimagesthathaveflatcolorsandnoblends.Theycanalsohavetransparentbackgrounds.

3. PhotoscanbesavedaseitherPNGsorJPEGs.PNGphotostendtohavelargerfilesizesthanJPEGphotos.

4. Therearethree(3)typesofPNGformats:PNG8,PNG24,andPNG32.PNG32istheformatfortransparencyandwillsometimesyieldahigherfilesizethanPNG8orPNG24.

5. PNG32offersthebestoptionforanyimagesrequiringatransparentbackground.Tables Tablesareawaytovisuallydisplayinformationinalogicalandeasy-to-understandformat.However,misuseoftablescanwreakhavoconassistivetechnologywhenrenderinglargeamountsofdata.Ifnotproperlylabeledandcaptioned,thenon-visualreaderoftengetsgarbledandconfusinginformation.NOTE:INTHEU.S.MISSIONWEBSITEPLATFORM,TABLESSHOULDBEUSEDONLYTOPRESENTINFORMATIONAL,STATISTICALDATAANDMUSTBESECTION508COMPLIANT.TheScopeattributeistheeasiestwaytocreatetablesthatarecompliantwithSection508AccessibilityStandards.COLSPANandROWSPANaretheattributesthatprovideameanstorelategroupsofrelatedinformationinaconsistentmannerandtheyareenabledforassistivetechnology.Scope Attribute TheScopeattributenotifiesthebrowserandscreenreaderthateverythingunderthecolumnisrelatedtotheheaderatthetopandthateverythingtotherightofherowheaderisrelatedtothatheader.

Tomaketabulardatamoreaccessible,assign“scope”totableheaders.

1. Usescope=”col”attributeinthe<th>or<td>tagofeverycellinaheaderrow.

2. Usescope=”row”attributeinthe<th>or<td>tagofeverycellinaheadercolumn.

NOTE:ONLYUSETHESCOPEATTRIBUTEINTHEHEADERCELLS(CELLSATTHETOPORLEFTINTHETABLE).



Table Summaries Anothermethodofenhancingvisuallyimpairedvisitorsexperiencewithtablesistoincludeacaptionandasummaryofthetabledata.

• Anytextenteredintothecaptionfieldisdisplayedabovethetableandreadaloudbyscreenreaders.

• Anytextenteredintothesummaryfieldwillnotbedisplayed,butwillbereadaloudbyscreenreaders.



Sample Coded Table Belowisanexampleofaproperlycodedtable:

508Accessibility

Term Definition

AccessibleDesigns AccessibleDesignsallowasmanypeopleaspossibletousetechnologyregardlessofdisability,age,orfunctionallimitation.

AccessibleVideo Accessiblevideoisasynchronizedmultimediafilewithatextequivalent.

<tableborder=“1”align=“center”summary=“AbrieflistingoftermsanddefinitionsforSection508accessibility”><caption>508Accessibility</caption><tr><thscope=“col”>Term</th><thscope=“col”>Definition</th></tr><tr><tdscope=”row”>AccessibleDesigns</td><td>AccessibleDesignsallowasmanypeopleaspossibletousetechnologyregardlessofdisability,age,orfunctionallimitation.</td><tr><tr><tdscope=”row”>AccessibleVideo</td><td>Accessiblevideoisasynchronizedmultimediafilewithatextequivalent.</td><tr></table>



User Friendly Pages User-friendlypagesaredesignedsothatnothinginterfereswiththevisitor’sabilitytogetandunderstandthecontent.Apagethatisslowtoload,hasdistractingandunnecessarygraphics,requiresconsiderablescrolling,ordeviatesfromthecommonlookandfeelareallobstaclesthatvisitorsmustnavigatebeforegettingthecontenttheyneed.Creating User Friendly Pages

1. Pagesshouldbesmallinsizesothattheydownloadquicklyevenoverlowbandwidthconnections.Longerpagesshouldbebrokenupintoseveralshorterones.

2. Thenumberandsizeofimagesshouldbekepttoaminimum.

3. Noimageorvideoshouldbelargerthan25megabytes.File and URL Naming Conventions FilenamesandURLsshouldbeinlowercaseandshouldnotcontainanyspacesorspecialcharacters.LanguageURLsshouldbecreatedinEnglish.Thisisespeciallyimportantinnon-Latincharacterlanguages.AnexampleoftheAmbassadorpageURLinArabicis:https://xx.usembassy.gov/ar/our-relationship-ar/ambassador-ar/External Links LinkstoexternalpagesfromtheU.S.MissionWebsiteplatformshouldalwaysopeninanewbrowsertaborwindow.Thismakesitcleartovisitorsthattheyareaccessingdifferentwebsite.Domain Names DomainnamesarecreatedwiththeofficialISOcountrycode(twoletters).Someexamplesinclude:

1. U.S.Embassy(andConsulates)Website:https://xx.usembassy.gov

2. U.S.ConsulateOnlyWebsite:https://xx.usconsulate.gov

3. U.S.InternationalOrganizationMissions:https://xxxx.usmission.gov

4. U.S.VPPs:https://xx.usmission.gov



Language Content Display TheMissionWebsitePlatformusesthePolylangplugintodeliverlanguagecontenttovisitors.ThispluginenablesIIPtosupportbothFullandPartialLanguageversionsofcontentforendusers.UsersmaytranslateasmuchoraslittlecontentastheydesireandhavetheresourcestomaintainandIIPofferstwooptionsforLanguagecontent.OptionOneiswhatIIPreferstoas“FULL”LANGUAGE.Simplyput,thismeansthattheLanguagecontenthasatranslatedHomepage.OptionTwois“PARTIAL”LANGUAGEandisintendedforusebyPostswhodonothavetheresourcestokeepacurrenttranslatedversionoftheHomepage.AllsitesthatofferadditionallanguagesarerequiredtohavetheLanguagedropdownintheupperrightcorneroftheheader.

• InFULLLANGUAGEsites,thedropdownwilllinktothecorrespondingHomePage.

• InPARTIALLANGUAGEsites,thedropdownwilllinktotheLanguage’ssitemap.

SYSTEMPAGESmustalwayshavetranslatedversionsavailableforvisitors.Theseinclude:

1. Privacypage

2. Sitemappage

3. SocialMediaPropertiespage



Content and Maintenance IIPdoesnotreviewthecontentofU.S.MissionWebsitepages;thisistheresponsibilityoftheindividualwebmanagerswhocreateandpublishthem.However,thecontentofanyU.S.Mission’swebsitepagecontributestowardtheperceptionoftheDepartmentofState.Forthisreason,weprovidethefollowingguidelines:

1. Informationpublishedshouldbeasaccurateandup-to-dateaspossible.

2. Missionsshouldonlypublishmaterialsthattheyhavethecapacitytomaintain.Maintenanceincludeskeepingtheinformationoneachwebpageuptodateandarchivingorpurgingoutofdatecontent.

3. EachMissionshouldhaveaclearlyunderstoodprocesswheredesignatedindividualsperiodicallyreview,maintainandupdatethecontentofthewebsite.

4. Eachmissionwebsiteshouldhaveacontacttowhomvisitorscansendcontentcorrections,updates,orquestions.

5. Contentforthewebcanbegreatlyimprovedthroughappropriatewritingstyleandformatting.Basicrecommendationsinclude:

a. Contentthatvisitorsareexpectedtoreadonlineshouldbedividedintoshortsectionsandprovidedwithheadingsthatallowadocumenttobescannedeasily.

b. Contentshouldcontainextensivecross-referencedlinkstomakeiteasytofindrelatedinformation.

c. Textformattingsuchasboldoritalicsshouldbeusedsparinglytohighlightkeywordsorphrases,makingthemeasiertofind.



Accessibility Standards What is Section 508? Section508isaU.S.lawthatrequiresgovernmentagencies,andinstitutionsreceivingfederaldollars,toensurethatallelectronicandinformationtechnologyapplicationsareaccessibletoindividualswithdisabilities.Tolearnmore,goto:http://www.section508.gov/.

Section508oftheRehabilitationActof1973wasenactedto:

§ Eliminatebarriersininformationtechnology.

§ Createnewopportunitiesforpeoplewithdisabilities.

§ Encouragedevelopmentoftechnologiesthatwillhelpachievethesegoals.Thescopeofsection508andtheAccessBoardstandardsarelimitedtotheFederalgovernment.Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

§ WascreatedbytheW3Cin1997.§ Isasetofguidelinescreatedtoassistwebdevelopers,programmers,anddesigners

inmakingwebcontentaccessibletopeoplewithdisabilities.§ http://www.w3.org/WAI/

Barrier to Access Section508addressesaccessibilityforpeoplewhohave:

§ Visualdisabilities

§ Hearingdisabilities§ Motordisabilities

§ Speechdisabilities

§ CognitivedisabilitiesSimplyput,accessiblewebsitesposenobarrierstothedisabled.Theinformationandfunctionalitycontainedinthewebsiteorapplicationarejustasaccessibletopeoplewith



disabilitiesastheyaretopeoplewithout.Therearemorethan750millionpeoplelivingwithdisabilities.

AsusersbecomemoredependentontheInternetforinformationandservices,itiscriticalthatthewebbeusablebyeveryone.Itisnotonlytherightthingtodo,it'sthelaw;in1998CongressamendedtheRehabilitationActtoincludeSection508.Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

§ QuickReferenceGuide(http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/)§ GuidelineChecklist(http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-WCAG20-

20060427/appendixB.html)

Accessible Design

§ Allowsasmanypeopleaspossibletousetechnologyregardlessofdisability,age,orfunctionallimitation.

§ Benefitseverybodybyenhancing:

o Usability

o Deviceindependenceo Globalization/localization

Unique Page Title Everypageofthewebsiteshouldhaveauniqueandmeaningfulpagetitle.Heading Tags – Proper Use Usingheadingtagstostructurethecontentonawebpagewillnotonlyprovidecontextforscreenreaderusers,butalsoenablethemtoskimthroughapage.

§ ThetemplatesuseLevel1headings<H1>forpagetitles.

§ UseLevel3headings<h3>forsectiontitles.



Accessible Video Useofmultimediacontentonthewebisgrowing,andtheplatformoffersPostwebmanagersexpandedmultimediacapabilities.ItisimportantforWebdeveloperstoaddressusabilityneedsnow.

Guideline(b)oftheAccessBoardstandardsstates:“Equivalentalternativesforanymultimediapresentationshallbesynchronizedwiththepresentation.”

Theword"synchronized"iskey.Itispossibletocreateaseparatefilewiththetextofthecontentsofanaudiofileoradetaileddescriptionofavideooranimation.However,tocomplywithsection508,themultimediafilesmustbesynchronizedwithatextequivalent.

Captioning and Transcripts Thetwotypicalmethodsofprovidingamultimediaalternativearecaptioningandtranscripts.Providecaptioningforvideofilesandtranscriptsforaudiofiles.Althoughatranscriptisn’tsynchronized,usethismethodforaudiofilessinceaudioistechnicallyone(notmulti)media.

Captioning:Captioningistheon-screentextualpresentationofaudiomaterialsuchasspokendialogue.Unlikesubtitles,captionshavetheoptionofbeingturnedonoroff.

Captioning Advantages

§ Besidesaidingthosewithhearingloss,captionsalsohelppersonswithhearingdisabilities.

§ Increaseslearningandretention.§ Helpsincreaseliteracy.

§ Aidsinlearningasecondlanguage.

§ Facilitatestheconveyanceofaudiocontentinenvironmentsthatarenoisy(e.g.,aquietlibraryornosoundcardorspeakers).



Tips for Captioning Themethodusedtoactivateanddeactivateaccessibilityfeaturessuchasaudiodescriptionsandcaptionsshouldbeintuitivetoapersonrequiringthatfeature.

§ Closedcaptioning:Thetextequivalentoftheaudiomaterialisplacedonaseparatechannelsouserscanturnitonandoff.Usethisformatwheneverpossible,sinceitallowsuserstodecidewhetherornottodisplaycaptions.

§ Opencaptioning:Embedsthetextpermanentlyonthesamelayerasthevideosignal,soitcannotbeturnedoff.

Accessible PDF Documents PDFdocumentsmustbetaggedforaccessibility,andthelatestversionsofAdobeAcrobatXPro,willautomaticallycreateaccessiblePDFsfromcommonfiles(.doc,.docx,.html).AdobeAcrobatXProalsoallowsuserstoupdateexistingPDFstomakethemaccessible,althoughcurrentlythereisnorequirementforpoststoupdateolderversionsofPDFdocuments.However,makingthemaccessiblewillalsomakethemsearchable.

§ Alldocumentswillhaveauniquepagetitleinthepropertiessettings.

§ Languagemustbedesignatedinthepropertiessettings.§ Documentmustbetextbased,notscanned.

§ Allimagesmustbetagged.

§ WhenapagecontainsalinktoaPDF,thelinktodownloadtheAdobePDFReadersmustalsobeonthatpage.

§ PDFsshouldbeidentifiedandthefilesizeshouldbeannotated[ex:DSForm160(PDF,172KB)



Appendices Appendix A – Glossary

Term Definition

ACCESSIBLEDESIGNS

AccessibleDesignsallowasmanypeopleaspossibletousetechnologyregardlessofdisability,age,orfunctionallimitation.

ACCESSIBLEVIDEO

AccessibleVideoisasynchronizedmultimediafilewithatextequivalent.

ADMINISTRATOR Administratorscanaccessalltheadministrationfeatureswithinasinglesite.

ALTTAGS ALTTagsdescribeanimage'scontentratherthanidentifyingpersonsorplaces.

AUTHOR Authorscreate,edit,delete,andpublishtheirownposts,aswellasuploadfiles.

BLOG Ablogisafrequentlyupdatedonlinecollectionofposts…short,informal,sometimescontroversial,andsometimesdeeplypersonal…withthefreshestinformationatthetoppersonaljournalordiary.Blogisashortformforthewordweblogandthetwowordsareusedinterchangeably.

BLOGROLL Ablogrollisalistingofwebsitesthatoftenappearaslinksonweblogs.Thislistoflinksisusedtorelatethesiteowner'sinterestinoraffiliationwithothersites.

CAPTIONS Captionsprovideinformationthatenablesthevisitortofullyunderstandthepurposeofthephotowithoutmisleadingorconfusingthem.

CAPTIONINGANDTRANSCRIPTS

CaptioningandTranscriptsaremethodsofprovidinganalternativemeansofaccessingmultimediacontentbyprovidingcaptioningforvideofilesandtranscriptsforaudiofiles.

CATEGORY EachpostinWordPressisfiledunderacategory.Thoughtfulcategorizationallowspoststobegroupedwithothersofsimilarcontentandaidsinthenavigationofasite.PleasenotethepostcategoryshouldnotbeconfusedwiththeLinkCategoriesusedtoclassifyandmanagelinks.

CD-ROM CompactDisks-ReadOnlyMemory

CLOSEDCAPTIONING

ClosedCaptioningisthetextequivalentoftheaudiomaterialthatisplacedonaseparatechannelsouserscanturnitonandoff.

COLORPALETTE AColorPalettecontainsaselectionofcolorsthatcanbeextremelyeffectiveforcreatingperceptualeffects.Alsocanreinforcethelayout,allowinganincreasedcomprehensionforthevisitor.TheDepartmentofStateusesaprimarycolorpaletteaswellasagrayscalepalette.



Term Definition

CONTENT Contentconsistsoftext,images,orotherinformationsharedinposts.Thisisseparatefromthestructuraldesignofawebsite,whichprovidesaframeworkintowhichthecontentisinserted,andthepresentationofasite,whichinvolvesgraphicdesign.AContentManagementSystemchangesandupdatescontent,ratherthanthestructuralorgraphicdesignofawebsite.

CONTRIBUTORS Contributorscreate,edit,anddeletetheirownpostsbutcannotpublishthem.

CSS CascadingStyleSheets

CSS ContentSupportSystems

DESIGNSTANDARDS

DesignStandardsaretoensureconsistency,offerasenseofplacewithinthesite,andsupportimplicitassociationbetweenthebrand(U.S.DepartmentofState)andtheprovidedsource(Embassy,Mission,Consulate,etc.).Designstandardsensurethattheuserknowswhattoexpect,howthesitewilllook,wheretofindeverything,andaswellashoweverythingworks.

DOMAINNAMES Domainnamesareanorganization’suniquespaceontheInternetoralsoreferredtoasyourwebsitesaddress.

DOS DepartmentofState

DROPDOWN ADropdownisamenuofoptionsthatappearsbelowtheitemwhenthecomputeruserclicksonit.Visitorsdonotneedtonavigatetoanewpageinordertoviewthemenu.

EDITORS Editorscanpublishandmanagepostsincludingthepostsofotherusers.

EMBASSYTEMPLATES

EmbassyTemplatesareamodelorstandardcreatedtoprovideacommonlookandfeelforallmissionwebsites.

EXTERNALLINKS ExternalLinksarelinks(URLs)toexternalpagesthatarenotapartofthewebsite.Externallinksmustopenupinanewwindow.

FEATUREDIMAGE AFeaturedImageisanimageorthumbnailthatisgraphicallyrepresentativeofapost(i.e.,animageofadogorcatonapagededicatedtoadoptingananimal.Featuredimagesareonlyusedinblogrolls.TheSagethemesupportsuptothree(3)featuredimagesperpost.

FILENAMINGCONVENTION

AFileNamingConventionisastandardofnamingfileswhensavingthem.Filenamesshouldbealllowercase,andnotcontainanyspacesorspecialcharacters.

FLIPBOXES FlipBoxesaregreatforgrabbingtheuser’sattentionandaddingsomeinteractionwithasite’scontent.Flipboxeshavefullycustomizablecontentonthefrontandbacksideandcanspin,rotate,flip.Putatitleonthefrontandbackside,addbuttonstothesite’scontentandtheboxheightwillextendbasedontheamountofcontentused.Customizethebordersize,borderradiusandhavefullcontroloverthefrontandbacksidecolors.

GALLERY AGalleryisspecificallyanexpositionofimagesattachedtoapost.



Term Definition

GLOBALNAVIGATION

GlobalNavigationisthemainhorizontalsitenavigationthatappearsthroughouttheentiresite.Itcontainsasetofdropdownmenuslocatedatthetopofeachpagethatallowsuserstoseeallpageswithineachsectionofthewebsite.

GRAPHICS Graphicsarephotographsorvisualpresentations.

HEADINGTAG AHeadingTagisawayofstructuringthecontentonyourpagesotheusercanquicklyskimthroughthepage.

HTML HypertextMarkupLanguage

IIP BureauofInternationalInformationPrograms

INDEXPAGE AnIndexPageshowcasesthecriticalcontentandlinks,whichmaybeusefultotheaudience.

INFORMATIONARCHITECTURE

InformationArchitectureistheorganizationandeffectivestructureofawebpage.TheEmbassy’sstructureiscomprisedoffour(4)mainareas,andthenbrokendownintosub-groupsthatbetterassisttheuserinfindingspecificinformation.

INTERNALPAGES Internalpages:presentcontenttothevisitorthattheyhavebeensearchingfor.Thesearethepageswithinyourwebsite.

LAYOUTTEMPLATES

Layouttemplatesareavailableinapagelayout'sdisplaytab.PageLayoutTemplatesprovidedifferentplansordesignsavailabletoformatthecontentofthepage.

LISTINGPAGE AListingPageisapagethatprovidesthecontentinalistlayout,allowingthepublishertopresentlargeamountsofcontenttothevisitoreffectively.Listingpagesareoftenusedtoprovidealistofhyperlinkedtitlesdirectingsitevisitorstocontentsuchaspressreleases,speeches,orwardenmessages.

LOCALNAVIGATION

Local(left)Navigationprovideslinksforthecurrentlevelwithinthesitehierarchyandafastrouteforvisitorstogettothecontentinwhichtheyaremostinterested.

MAINCONTENTAREA

AMainContentAreacontainscontentspecifictothesection.Themaincontentareaisexpandableandcansupportsmall,medium,andlargeamountsofcontent.Thisisthefocuspointofthepage.

MORELINKS MoreLinksisanoptionaladditiontoallfeatureboxes;thisallowsaposttoguidevisitorstothecompletelistortoprovidefurtherassistancetocompleteatask.

MWP MissionsWebsitePlatform

OFFICIALBANNERS

OfficialBannersaretheofficiallabelingforallEmbassiesundertheDepartmentofState.ThisheaderisoneofthebrandingelementsoftheDepartmentofState.

OFFICIALSEALS OfficialSealsarethesymboloftheU.S.DepartmentofState,onethatisrecognizedandrespected.Ithelpslinkallwebsitesinthevisitorsmindandisabadgeofcredibility.



Term Definition

OMB OfficeofManagementandBudget

ONLINEFORMS OnlineFormsareformsthatareavailablethroughawebsiteviatheInternet.

OPENCAPTIONING

OpenCaptioningembedsthetextpermanentlyonthesamelayerasthevideosignal,soyoucannotturnitoff.

PAGES APageisoftenusedtopresent"static"informationaboutaneventorsite.AgoodexampleofaPageisinformationplacedonanAboutPage.APageshouldnotbeconfusedwiththetime-orientedobjectscalledposts.Pagesaretypically"timeless"innatureandlive"outside"yourblog.

PDF PortableDocumentFormat

PHOTOCREDITS PhotoCreditsarewhenanorganizationusesorduplicatesinformationavailablefromtheprivatesectoraspartofaninformationresource,product,orservice,theorganizationmustensurethatthepropertyrightsoftheprivatesectorsourceareadequatelyprotected.Asapublisher,thismeanscreditmustbegiventotheorganizationthatthephotoorinformationisduplicatedfrominthefilescaptionorheadline.

PORTAL APortalisanentranceoraccesstosomethinglarger.

POSTNEWS/RSSFEEDS

PostNews/RSSFeedsarearticlestodisplayaheadlineandbriefdescription.ThesearedisplayeddirectlytotherightoftheHomepageslideshow.TheycanbecreatedbytheembassyordisplayedusinganRSSFeed.AnRSSFeedisamethodofpullingnewsfromonlinepublishersandpostingitonyoursite,providingfreshcontenttoyourusers.

POSTS Postsarethoseitemsthatusuallycontainsemanticallyandchronographicallyarrangedinformation.Alsoknownas“articles”andsometimesincorrectlyreferredtoas“blogs”.InWordPress,“posts”arearticlesthatarewrittentopopulatethewebsite.

PRIVACYNOTICEANDDISCLAIMER

APrivacyNoticeandDisclaimerisastatementthatdescribeshowuserinformationmaybetrackedaswellaswhatisdonewithinformationcollectedfromusers.Federalwebsitesmustincludeaprivacypolicystatement,evenifthesitedoesnotcollectanyinformationthatresultsincreatingaPrivacyActrecord.

READABILITY Readabilityisahighqualitywritingthatiseasytounderstandandread.

RSS RichSiteSummary,oftencalledReallySimpleSyndication,isaformatforsyndicatingmanytypesofcontent,includingblogentries,torrentfiles,videoclipsonnews-likesites;specificallyfrequentlyupdatedcontentonawebsite,andisalsoknownasatypeof"feed"or"aggregator".AnRSSfeedcancontainasummaryofcontentorthefulltext,andmakesiteasierforpeopletokeepuptodatewithsitestheylikeinanautomatedmanner.AlsofrequentlyknownasRichSiteSummary.

SAMI SynchronizedAccessibleMediaInterchange

SCHEMA ASchemaisanorganizationorlayoutofconceptsandactions.



Term Definition

SCOPEATTRIBUTE

AScopeAttributetellsthebrowserandscreenreaderthateverythingunderthecolumnisrelatedtotheheaderatthetop,andeverythingtotherightoftherowheaderisrelatedtothatheader.

SECTION508 Section508requiresgovernmentagencies,andinstitutionsreceivingfederaldollars,toensurethatallelectronicandinformationtechnologyapplicationsareaccessibletoindividualswithdisabilities.Iteliminatesbarriersininformationtechnology,createsnewopportunities,andencouragesdevelopmentofnewtechnologies.

SHARE AShareenablesvisitorstoeasilyspotlightcontentfromthesiteontheirpersonalFacebook,Digg,andothersocialmediaoutletswithasimpleclickofthemouse.

SIDEBAR ASidebarisaverticalcolumnprovidedbyathemefordisplayinginformationotherthanthemaincontentofthewebpage.Themesusuallyprovideatleastonesidebarattheleftorrightofthecontent.Sidebarsusuallycontainelementsthatauserofthesitecancustomize.

SLIDER ASliderisawebpageelementusedtohighlightagroupofselectedposts.Thesliderdisplaysonepostatatime,transitioningfromonetothenextautomaticallyorattheclickofabutton.Often,thesliderlookslikeafancyslideshowlocatednearthetopofthesite.

SMIL SynchronizedMultimediaIntegration

STANDARDFOOTER

StandardFooterisabrandedelementoftheDepartmentofState,locatedatthebottomofeachpage.Thestandardfootercontainstheofficialdisclaimer,globalnavigationlinks,andlinkstomultimediapages,communityoutreachpages,FAQs,sitemap,andprivacystatements.ItmayalsoprovidelinkstoUSGandpartnersites,andotherUSGsitesinthecountry.

SUPERADMINISTRATOR

SuperAdministratorscanaccesstothesitenetworkadministrationfeaturesandallotheradministrationsfeatures.

TABBEDAREAS TabbedAreas(ContentChannel)offersembassiestheabilitytodisplaymultiplekeyembassyprogramsandpartnershipswithouttakingawayfromthedailycontent.

TABLES Tablesarechartsusedtodisplayinformal,statisticaldata.

TABLESUMMARY TableSummariesareacaptionthatincludesashortsummaryoranalysisoftheimportantinformationinatable.Thisishelpfulforreaderswithdisabilities.

TAG ATagisakeywordthatdescribesallorpartofaPost.ThinkofitlikeaCategory,butsmallerinscope.APostmayhaveseveraltags,manyofwhichrelatetoitonlyperipherally.TagscanbecreatedontheflybysimplytypingthemintotheTagfield.Bydefault,tagscanbeassignedonlytothePostandcustomposttypes.

OftenpeopleconfuseTagsandCategories.Categoriesgenerallydon'tchangeoften,whileTagsusuallychangewitheveryPostandareclosertothetopicofthePost.



Term Definition

TEMPLATE ATemplateisafilethatdefinesanareaofthewebpagesgeneratedbyatheme.Forexample,thereistypicallyatemplatefortheheaderareaatthetopofthewebpages,atemplateforthecontent,atemplateforthesidebars,andsoon.Thetemplatesarelikebuildingblocksthatmakeupthecompletewebpage.

TERMSOFLANGUAGE

TermsofLanguagearewhetherauserismonolingual,bilingual,ormultilingual.

THEME AThemeistheoveralldesignofasiteandencompassescolor,graphics,andtext;aThemeissometimescalledtheskin.ThedefaultthemeforthisWordPressprojectistheSagetheme.

TRANSLATION TranslationenablesthewebmanagertolinkdirectlytoacorrespondingLanguagetranslationofthecontent.

TYPOGRAPHY Typographyisthetechniqueofarrangingverbalandvisualcommunicationinaneffectway.

URL UniformResourceLocator

USERFRIENDLYPAGES

User-friendlypagesaredesignedsothatnothinginterfereswiththevisitorgettingtothecontentandallcontentiseasilyfoundandaccessible.

WAI WebAccessibilityImitative.CreatedbytheW3Cin1997,itisasetofguidelinescreatedtoassistwebdevelopers,programmers,anddesignersinmakingwebcontentaccessibletopeoplewithdisabilities.

W3C WorldWideWebConsortium

WEBMANAGER WebManageristhepersonwhomaintains,updates,andmanagesthecontentofthesite.

WIDGET Widgetsareindependentsectionsofcontentthatcanbeplacedintoanywidget-enabledareaprovidedbythetheme.Widget-enabledareasarecommonlycalledSidebarsandareusuallylocatedintherightorlefthandcolumns.However,widgetscanbelocatedvirtuallyanywherewithinthesitedependingonthecurrenttheme.



Appendix B – Additional Services and Information Customer Support Services TheOfficeofDigitalHelpDeskprovides24/7/365customersupportforallusersoftheU.S.MissionsWebsiteplatform.Allrequestsfortechnicalassistanceorsiteupdateservicesmustbesentto:embassy@america.govsothatamemberofoursupportteamcanassistassoonaspossible.

ThenatureoftheplatformmakesiteasyforourteamtostepinandassistifthereisasituationatPostthatpreventsthelocalteamfromupdatingthewebsite.Weofferlong-termsupportservicesandwillbehappytoprovideadditionalinformationtoanyinterestedusers.Pleaseemailthehelpdeskat:[email protected].

Training Services Trainingservicesavailabletoourusersinclude:

§ OnlineTraining–Thistrainingtypicallytakestwo(2)hoursadayforthree(3)days.Itisintendedforfirst-timeplatformusersorforPostswhoaremigratingintothelatestversionoftheplatform.

§ RefresherTraining–ThistrainingisintendedforUserswhopreviouslytookthetrainingandneedtoreacquaintthemselveswithfeaturesandfunctionality.Italsotakesapproximatelytwo(2)hourspersessionandthenumberofsessionsisnegotiatedwiththetrainingteam.

§ Tutorials–Thisoptionallowstheusertosetthetrainingagenda.Atutorialsessioncanbeasshortas30minutesandlastupto2hours.Iftheuserneedsaquickoverviewofaparticularfunctionoftheplatform,thisisagreatoption.

§ RegionalWorkshops–RegionalWorkshopsarescheduledbasedonthemigrationscheduleandbudgetavailability.AttendanceataworkshopisbyinvitationonlyandistypicallydeterminedbytheRegionwheretheworkshopisheldandthemigrationschedule.

Torequesttrainingservices,simplye-mailourhelpdeskat:[email protected].