3.2.3 Website Content Policy and Guidelines

Policy Statement

The College of Charleston website (charleston.edu and its subdirectories) is the first point of contact for prospective students, faculty and staff. To be competitive in today's market, it is essential that the College of Charleston provide website visitors with a creative, modern, sophisticated, intuitive and accessible, customer-focused user experience across all university websites. For a website to be an effective tool in the recruiting process, it is essential that the entire campus be knowledgeable about, and aligned with, university goals and policies as they relate to website procedures and best practices, as well as with the College of Charleston brand. This policy allows the College of Charleston to be proactive in thinking strategically about meeting recruitment and retention goals. Without it, we risk diluting the brand, strategic messages and website goals.

Policy Manager and Responsible Department or Office

Office of University Marketing and Communications; Division of Information Technology

Departments/Offices Affected by the Policy

All employees, divisions, schools, departments and offices.

Policy

The following policy is in place for the College of Charleston’s public-facing website, charleston.edu, and its subdirectories. This policy does not apply to The Hub, the “people server,” College of Charleston blogs or any website dedicated to faculty research or coursework.

Any campus unit with content on one of the College’s webpages (charleston.edu and its subdirectories) must appoint a point of contact who is responsible for the integrity, accuracy and accessibility of content on their respective web pages. Anyone editing content on charleston.edu and its subdirectories must follow the website content guidelines outlined in the brand manual.

The Office of University Marketing and Communications has access to all areas of the College of Charleston website (charleston.edu and its subdirectories) and, with prior notice, will edit, alter or remove content as needed to promote effective web communications. With prior notice, the Office of Marketing and Communications will also edit, alter or remove content that violates the website standards laid out in the brand manual.

For additional guidelines and procedures related to the website, please review the brand manual, which is College of Charleston policy. The brand manual includes information regarding the College’s visual identity and messaging guidelines as well as information related to digital accessibility. At minimum, the College of Charleston’s website must meet all current federal digital accessibility requirements (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).

Procedures Related to the Policy

See “Website Content Procedures and Guidelines” section of the Brand Manual

Related Policies, Documents or Forms

College of Charleston Brand Manual and Visual Identity and Style Guide; Digital Accessibility Policy

3.2.3 Website Content Policy and Guidelines PDF

 

Revision Log

Issue Date: 7/1/25

Date of Policy Revision: N/A

Next Review Date: 7/17/2029

Web Publication Date: 1/12/2026