Best Practice Blogs and Websites

Need some tips and pointers that can come in handy while managing your website? Browse some of the resources below that we've used to establish some of our best practice recommendations. Please note that third-party resources are provided as reference only, and their inclusion does not necessarily imply an endorsement by UM.

Accessibility

Create accessible PDFs

Adding accessibility tags to PDF files makes it easier for screen readers and other assistive technologies to read and navigate a document, with Tables of Contents, hyperlinks, bookmarks, alt text, and so on. Read More

MS Office Accessibility Checker

Before sending your email message or sharing your document or spreadsheet, run the Accessibility Checker to make sure your Office for Mac content is easy for people of all abilities to read and edit. Read More


Content Strategy

Writing for the Web

When writing for the web, using plain language allows users to find what they need, understand what they have found, and then use it to meet their needs. It should also be actionable, findable, and shareable. Read More

Simple URL structure

A site's URL structure should be as simple as possible. The URL http://www.example.com/green-dress.html is much more useful to us than http://www.example.com/greendress.html. We recommend that you use hyphens (-) instead of underscores (_) in your URLs. Read More

Should Links Open In New Windows?

The objective of this technique is to limit the use of links or buttons that open new windows or tabs within Web content. In general, it is better not to open new windows and tabs since they can be disorienting for people, especially people who have difficulty perceiving visual content.  Read More

Don't Use "Click Here" as Link Text

When calling the user to action, use brief but meaningful link text. Read More

“Learn More” Links: You Can Do Better

The phrase ‘Learn More’ is increasingly used as a crutch for link labels. But the text has poor information scent and is bad for accessibility. With a little effort, you can transform this filler copy into descriptive labels that help users confidently predict what the next page will be. Read More


Cropping Images

Change the image size

Learn how to resize an image, crop and straighten, and add to the image canvas in Adobe Photoshop CC. Read More

Cropping and Straightening Photos

This document outlines the different methods you can use to adjust your image's cropping, rotation, and canvas size. Read More

Resizing Made Simple with the Crop Tool

Let's take a look at how you can resize your photographs using the Crop Tool in Photoshop. Read More


Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Title Tag

A title tag is an HTML element that specifies the title of a web page. Title tags are displayed on search engine results pages (SERPs) as the clickable headline for a given result, and are important for usability, SEO, and social sharing. The title tag of a web page is meant to be an accurate and concise description of a page's content. Read More

Meta Description

Meta descriptions are HTML attributes that provide concise explanations of the contents of web pages. Meta descriptions are commonly used on search engine result pages (SERPs) to display preview snippets for a given page. Read More