Supervisor's Guide

How Do I Create a Web Site?

You have a number of options:

If you want a University unit or department to design and build your site, contact Documents, Media, & Mail or Public Affairs.
Hire a web developer within your own unit or department. Contact Human Resources.
If you have your own web developer, point him or her to our Web Developer's Guide.
If your site is primarily patient-focused and related to UCSF Medical Center, contact Laurie Itow.
If you're a UCSF faculty member and you want to put course curriculum materials on the Web, see the Center for Instructional Technology. (School of Medicine faculty only: Contact the Office of Educational Technology.)
If you're a UCSF faculty member, student, or staff member and you who want to create a Web site for a student organization, contact the Office of Student Life (OSL).
Hire a non-UCSF contractor or agency.

Recommended Skills for School of Pharmacy Web Developers

Web developers for the School of Pharmacy should have the following 9 skills to effectively build or maintain a School Web site.

Recommended Skill	Rationale
Ability to code to Web standards.	We recommend coding to Web standards to ensure accessibility, stability, maintainability, and cost-effectiveness of our Web sites. Introduction: What are Web standards and why should I use them? and Why don't you code for Netscape? More info: Google: Web Standards
Ability to create XHTML code.	We recommend the most recent major version recommendation of Web markup language by the World Wide Web Consortium to take advantage of new markup language features as user agents support them. Introduction: Better Living Through XHTML and XHTML: Benefits. More info: Google: Why XHTML?
Ability to create CSS1 and CSS2 code.	We recommend the most recent major version recommendation of Cascading Style Sheets by the World Wide Web Consortium to take advantage of new presentational features as user agents support them. Introduction: CSS Quick Tutorial. More info: Google: Why CSS?
Ability to create valid code.	We recommend valid code to ensure that our Web pages behave as expected as user agent vendors move toward supporting accepted industry-wide standards. More info: Google: Why validate?
Ability to create accessible Web pages.	We recommend a minimum of Level A compliance of the most recent major version recommendation of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by the World Wide Web Consortium to ensure access of information on the Web to people with disabilities and to people using a wide variety of user agents (device independence). Introduction: Access: Everybody Wins, Auxiliary Benefits of Accessible Web Design, and Authoring Challenges for Device Independence. More info: About Accessibility, Google: Web Accessibility, and Google: Web device independence.
Ability to identify and resolve broken links.	We recommend that attention is given every work day to resolving broken links to minimize loss of productivity. This includes understanding not only how to change Web markup accordingly, but also the Web server implementation and handling of redirects. More info: Link Checking.
Knowledge of Web security issues.	We recommend that Web developers have knowledge of Web security issues such as SQL injection and malicious content mitigation to mitigate the possibilities of lost or stolen data, clients or servers crashing, and other security issues. Introduction: The World Wide Web Security FAQ. More info: Google: Web Security and Searchers may Google your patient records.
Ability to work effectively with other Web developers.	We recommend that Web developers effectively communicate anticipated changes that may affect other sites. When changes are made without effective communication, problems occur (such as broken links), and productivity is lost.
Ability to work within School standards for Web development.	We recommend that Web developers follow our Web style guide using our existing templates to ensure stability, maintainability, cost-effectiveness, and coherent identity and branding of our sites. Some deviations from the style guide and templates may be possible, but they must be approved by the Associate Dean of Planning and Communications.

Recommended Skill

Rationale

Ability to code to Web standards.

We recommend coding to Web standards to ensure accessibility, stability, maintainability, and cost-effectiveness of our Web sites. Introduction: What are Web standards and why should I use them? and Why don't you code for Netscape? More info: Google: Web Standards

Ability to create XHTML code.

We recommend the most recent major version recommendation of Web markup language by the World Wide Web Consortium to take advantage of new markup language features as user agents support them. Introduction: Better Living Through XHTML and XHTML: Benefits. More info: Google: Why XHTML?

Ability to create CSS1 and CSS2 code.

We recommend the most recent major version recommendation of Cascading Style Sheets by the World Wide Web Consortium to take advantage of new presentational features as user agents support them. Introduction: CSS Quick Tutorial. More info: Google: Why CSS?

Ability to create valid code.

We recommend valid code to ensure that our Web pages behave as expected as user agent vendors move toward supporting accepted industry-wide standards. More info: Google: Why validate?

Ability to create accessible Web pages.

We recommend a minimum of Level A compliance of the most recent major version recommendation of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by the World Wide Web Consortium to ensure access of information on the Web to people with disabilities and to people using a wide variety of user agents (device independence). Introduction: Access: Everybody Wins, Auxiliary Benefits of Accessible Web Design, and Authoring Challenges for Device Independence. More info: About Accessibility, Google: Web Accessibility, and Google: Web device independence.

Ability to identify and resolve broken links.

We recommend that attention is given every work day to resolving broken links to minimize loss of productivity. This includes understanding not only how to change Web markup accordingly, but also the Web server implementation and handling of redirects. More info: Link Checking.

Knowledge of Web security issues.

We recommend that Web developers have knowledge of Web security issues such as SQL injection and malicious content mitigation to mitigate the possibilities of lost or stolen data, clients or servers crashing, and other security issues. Introduction: The World Wide Web Security FAQ. More info: Google: Web Security and Searchers may Google your patient records.

Ability to work effectively with other Web developers.

We recommend that Web developers effectively communicate anticipated changes that may affect other sites. When changes are made without effective communication, problems occur (such as broken links), and productivity is lost.

Ability to work within School standards for Web development.

We recommend that Web developers follow our Web style guide using our existing templates to ensure stability, maintainability, cost-effectiveness, and coherent identity and branding of our sites. Some deviations from the style guide and templates may be possible, but they must be approved by the Associate Dean of Planning and Communications.

This list is the minimum set of recommendations. Each supervisor may have additional recommendations that are specific to his or her subsite. For more details about developing Web sites for the School, see Web Developer's Guide.

Go To: Web Developer's Guide or Information for Web Developers

UCSF School of Pharmacy