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WiscWeb - Customizations policy

The following document will detail the current WiscWeb policy regarding stylistic and functionality-based customizations to a WiscWeb site.

We will complete customizations as quickly as we are able but may be delayed due to high backlog.

Also, as a small team, we are strictly limited to the customizations outlined in this page. Any follow-up requests other than a logo swap, color change, or font change will be denied. Similarly, if the changes made do not look right to you in our QA/Staging environment, we will allow only one additional opportunity to edit before pushing the changes to Production.

 Design customizations

For websites that require non-UW branding, we offer the ability to implement an alternate brand logo and color treatment. Both changes must be made in tandem if deviating from the standard UW Theme styles:

Color change

The campus red color can be swapped site-wide for one other color. All instances of the red will be removed and replaced with your desired color, provided it meets accessibility contrast standards and is approved for use by University Marketing. It is not possible to change out other campus colors (example: hyperlink color) or only certain instances of the campus red. Additionally, we are unable to accommodate variations of red or alternate uses of the UW brand reds for your color swap.

The customer is required to provide the hex code/HTML color code for the desired color.

Removal of UW crest

A branded logo can be added to the header of your site, which replaces the UW Crest. The site title and optional tagline areas, as well as other elements of the header (including the utility bar, search box, and main menu), will remain as is.

Alternatively, you may decide to not have any logo/crest shown.

Any logo added to the header will undergo accessibility testing for like readability, quality, and contrast. 

Design guidelines for logo submissions: 

  • 72ppi 
  • Max-width of 300px 
  • JPG or PNG files only 
  • No text-only logos
  • No departmental print logos

If the logo does not meet these specifications or does not fit well into the space where the UW Crest currently sits, the request may be denied.

Note: The WiscWeb service does not cover logo creation or editing.

Design changes that cannot be accommodated

The following requests for design customizations cannot be accommodated in WiscWeb:  

Removing the site title/tagline 

The site title and tagline regions of the header cannot be replaced with a full-width logo. They must remain in place to ensure the accessibility of the content, as well as to prevent long term issues involving maintenance and upgrades to the UW Theme. 

Resizing elements of the header

The header area is a branded element of the UW Theme. Components of the header (site title, tagline, etc.) cannot be sized up or down and containers will not be made larger or smaller to accommodate logos. 

Multiple logos in the header 

It is not possible to add more than one logo to the header of the site. The UW Crest can be removed and replaced with one other logo. If multiple logos must be displayed, you can work with members of our team on ways to incorporate them into the homepage design so that both are present and clickable. 

Using a departmental print logo in place of UW crest and site title

From University Marketing: Website headers in the UW Theme use web fonts and an svg crest. They have been designed specifically for web use - to maximize readability across devices, accessibility, and performance. Print logos are to be used on print products only. More information about web typography can be found on the University Brand and Visual Identity site

Selective color changes 

Color changes are site-wide updates. We cannot accommodate requests to change the color on a specific area or page of your site. It is an all or nothing change. 

Changes to site fonts

WiscWeb now only offers the standard Red Hat fonts that come packaged with the UW Theme. These cannot be swapped for alternatives. This is an effort to maintain a campus branded standard and ensure accessibility/readability of text.

Footer

The footer of the UW Theme will remain as is to retain branding standards and consistency across campus sites. This region is not customizable.

Stylistic changes to vendor plugin content 

Any changes features provided by third party vendors could unintentionally break the display/function of the plugin content when updates are rolled out. Therefore, they will not be permitted. 

Removal of top menu bar

This is not an approved change as it lies outside of the minimum web standards for the UW Theme. 

Functionality customizations

At this time, we are not taking requests for new functionality on WiscWeb sites. Customizations are limited to the options detailed above.

If you have existing functionality that is experiencing a bug, please submit a request via our Support Form.



Keywordscustomize, style, design, functionality, tools, child theme, changes, color, logo, font, changesDoc ID98216
OwnerJenna K.GroupWiscWeb
Created2020-02-24 21:02:03Updated2024-09-06 12:09:27
SitesDoIT Help Desk, WiscWeb
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