Caltech Web Style Guide
Web pages are Caltech's most visible means of communication. The Caltech homepage receives, on average, about eighteen thousand page requests per day. Arguably, Caltech websites have the furthest reach of any form of communication at the Institute.
According to credibility studies performed at Stanford University Persuasive Technology Lab, a web user's confidence in a website is strongly linked to design: "...the study shows a clear link between solid design and site credibility. Participants said they were more likely to believe Web sites that looked professionally designed and appeared visually appropriate to the subject matter."
These web publishing guidelines are intended to help web developers to:
- Represent Caltech on the web in a manner that is professional and visually consistent with the Institute's established web presence, as dictated by the Institute homepage;
- Increase design and usability of web pages through good web practices;
- Suggest standard colors and fonts, and offer downloadable logos, banners and other standard graphics, with tips as to their best usage;
- Make web publishers aware of campus web resources.
