Governance, Standards and Compliance

The Web Steering Committee facilitates web governance at NIU. The committee provides centralized oversight of the development and maintenance of NIU websites, as well as consistent representation of the NIU brand through standard roles and processes.

NIU sites follow both internal and external laws, policies and guidelines.

Policies and Standards

NIU provides information to a broad, diverse audience on many platforms. To ensure the consistency and effectiveness of university communications, NIU websites are guided by the following:

• Communications Standards for Institutional Brand Identity
• Editorial Style Guide (PDF)
• Web Communications Policy
• Web Standards

Compliance

NIU websites must comply with the following:

• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Copyright

NIU websites may not contain copyrighted content unless written permission has been received (web standard 3.1 Copyright). For more information, read The Basics of Copyright in the University Setting (PDF), a guide developed by NIU’s legal office.

Accessibility

NIU websites must be accessible to people with disabilities and must comply with:

• Federal web accessibility laws enforced by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
• State web accessibility laws mandated by the Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act (IITAA)

NIU sites also follow the international web accessibility standards produced by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

The web team works with NIU’s information technology accessibility officer and the Division of Information Technology to implement technical specifications for accessibility, such as font size and color contrast. Web team members and collaborators ensure the accessibility of text and other web content.

Guidance for Faculty Sites

Faculty sites are governed by the Web Communications Policy for Faculty and don’t need to follow web standards, communications standards or the editorial style guide.