When a website is ready to be published, an account owner or administrator can make a request to "go live" via an online form.
Before you submit your request to go live:
- Ensure that you have corrected all accessibility issues identified by the built in Sa11y tool. See our accessibility information and resources page for more information.
- Consult the Siteimprove accessibility report for your site by logging into Siteimprove and "WP3 authoring - [your pub ID], [your site name]".
Once submitted, the request will be reviewed by members of the WebPublish Governance Committee.
After the brief review period, and if/when all conditions of participation and service are met, your WebPublish account will be published live.
The review of the website in question will include an assessment of the website's readiness, including but not limited to:
- compliance with external standards relating to privacy, accessibility, and copyright. See the WebPublish Usage Guidelines page for details.
- adherence to industry best practices – i.e. clean code, writing for the web, user experience, search engine optimization, etc. For more details, review the information in the Resources section of this site for details
- alignment with Queen's Visual Identity and writing writing style
- assurance that key stakeholders (e.g. directors, department heads, deans, vice-principals, etc) have viewed and approved the final product
The time it takes to provide feedback from the review is dependent on the size of the site and the extent of issues and recommendations to note. In most cases, feedback can be provided within 2-3 weeks of the request. The publishing date for the site is then determined by the time it will take for the site owner/administrator to make required changes.
Go-live checklist in brief
Semantic HTML
- Heading levels have a meaningful hierarchy (nested h2, h3, h4...)
- Other HTML tags are used properly to structure content
- Tables contain tabular data
Writing for the Web
- Acronyms are defined
- Text is presented in title and/or sentence case (minimal to no use of all caps)
- Writing adheres to Queen's Style Guide
- Content is optimized for scanning in an "F" pattern
- Paragraphs and sentences are brief
- Text is justified left
- Important information is at the top of the pag
- Lists and tables are employed effectively
Images
- File size and dimensions are optimized for web
- Captions are unique, descriptive, and informative
- Images are in focus, colour-corrected, and well-cropped
- Permission for usage is obtained
- Images are credited as required
- Images do not picture health and safety violations
Accessibility
- Graphics are not used as the only way to convey information
- All images have meaningful alt tags
- Ensure that inline styles do not limit browser and key commands
- Colour contrast and pairings consider low-vision and colour-blind users
- Link text is descriptive and unique
- Links do not open in a new window
- Use of PDFs is minimized; when included, they are accessible
- All video content is captioned
Usability, Site Structure, Navigation
- Homepage includes high-level intro to topic
- Navigation is well organized and well named
- Main menu does not link to another website
- Footer contains custom info
- Layout and design renders well on mobile
- News and events items include dates
- Complex charts and graphs include summary text / text equivalent
- Math equations make use of special code for formulas
- Webform fields are properly labeled
Download a more comprehensive checklist (xlsx 25KB)
(requires Net ID to access)
Complete the "Request to Go Live" form
About the go-live process
This Request to Go Live process is meant to create awareness, especially within and between marketing and communication teams across campus, of the publishing or republishing of Queen’s information online. This will support alignment of website objectives across Queen's by providing stakeholders across campus a view of any new website and and an understanding of how it fits into the larger Queen’s web landscape.
Committee members will share their insights and expertise, and provide the client with feedback. Feedback may include required changes before a website can launch, as well as recommended changes to consider.
Requesting a URL / website address
WebPublish clients can request indicate what their expected website URL when they Request an Account and should confirm their wishes again when submitting a Request to Go Live.
The request will be reviewed by members of the WebPublish Governance Committee.
The approval of URLs is guided by Queen’s Internet Domain Name Policy, recognized best practices for URLs, and pre-existing Queen’s domain name architecture.
More about URLS and file naming