Web Style Guide: Indiana University

Web Accessibility with Siteimprove

Indiana University's commitment to web accessibility mirrors our institutional policies and core values, strongly emphasizing our dedication to inclusivity and ensuring accessible experiences for everyone.

Website owners and content creators are required to maintain the accessibility of their websites and content. Siteimprove is a cloud-based web governance tool provided free by University Information Technology Services (UITS) to Indiana University website owners to monitor for accessibility issues, boost search engine rankings, and improve the performance of your website.

Learn More about Siteimprove

Build content-first, mobile-friendly websites that are true to IU

At Indiana University, we create websites based on three building blocks:

We also follow editorial guidelines and a visual style for the web—colors, typography, and other best practices—to carry the IU voice and brand across all university sites.

On this site, you’ll find code snippets to help you build and style any website, whether you’re working in the official IU Web Framework or starting from scratch.

How to create a page using building blocks

We build our website pages using a variety of content types called chunks. Each chunk is built to scale and adjusts based on the screen width of the viewing device. One chunk is usually all that will fit on the smaller screen of a mobile device, which makes it a great base unit for design and content creation.

Groups of content chunks make up sections, and sections make up the page.

Putting it all together

Pages can be as simple or complex as they need to be. A page that is an overview of a school or program might be formatted with an assortment of content chunks and sections, while a page that is meant to be more basic and functional might have one or two content chunks in a single section.

A simple page

When giving readers straightforward information, less is more.

A complex page

Use multiple sections and chunk types when you want to tell a complex story.

Apply IU style to any site

You can use our style and code snippets to improve any website in any content management system. Or you can request a copy of the IU Web Framework, a self-service tool that lets developers build a site in the WCMS.

If you would like to learn more about how we can help you build your website in the Web Framework, contact our Creative & Web Studio.