Creating Web Style Guides and Product Specifications
By Nikki Skuce, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
May 2001
Imagine if a publishing company had no set standards or guidelines. Within a book, let alone across publications, a variety of fonts might be used, styles altered, references cited differently, page sizes could change and you might not be able to open the last page. Sounds absurd, but these types of variations are commonplace on the Internet. While you may be allowed a bit more creativity, online publications are still publications. In essence, a Web site is an official publication and product of an organization that should have established standards in order to achieve consistency and accessibility.
While guidelines facilitate usability for external browsers, they are of equal importance for the Web manager and organization itself. Establishing guidelines and product specifications can avoid a series of problems, including:
- accessibility problems for your users;
- discontinuity with staff turnover;
- internal miscommunication for online standards and formats;
- challenges of scaling up a Web site;
- policy problems when collaborating with other groups; and
- cost overruns.
Many sustainable development organizations already have some sort of print guidelines that can be incorporated into a Web style guide with the addition of some key topics. In general, there should be guidelines for:
- writing and editing (spelling, abbreviations, citation formats, etc.);
- meta-data (titles, keywords, descriptions, using them!);
- visual design and navigation (colour schemes, internal and external links, etc.);
- coding and file management (maximum KBs, frames, directory structure, etc.); and
- a clause that allows for flexibility (perhaps format can change somewhat for a collaborative project or new department, guidelines should also be reviewed and updated over time).
Writing up guidelines and product standards in these areas will make the Webmaster's job easier and staff transition a lot smoother. Length, style and structure of online publishing is quite different from print publishing, but it should not be given any less importance in establishing consistent and professional sets of regulations. Work collaboratively with your staff to ensure ownership of standards and compliance, and make sure that everyone has a printed copy to use as a reference.
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