Website Design and Development

Website Information

The goal of the Clayton State University website is to provide relevant and up-to-date information that is clear and accessible across multiple devices (PC, mobile and tablets), organized and an easy to navigate.

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Website Requirements 

The Clayton State University website was developed to comply with W3C standards and to function in the latest Browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari) that adhere to these standards. 

Several documents on this website are in Portable Document Format (PDF). To view these documents in PDF format you will need to download the free Adobe Reader software to your desktop computer, laptop or device. The Adobe reader software will allow you to view PDF documents in your browser, print and save documents to your local computer or capable device.

Other documents on the website are produced in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint or Excel which are viewed using Microsoft Office Software. You can alternatively use other free software application to also open these documents. Some software programs you can use but are not limited to include NeoOffice, and GoogleDocs.

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Web Guidelines

These guidelines are to help you develop your department web pages. If you have any questions about these guidelines, please contact the Web Team. The web guidelines are below:

Content Management System

The University Content Management System (CMS), Modern Campus CMS, supports and serves the University staff, departments and divisions. We utilize the CMS system to communicate the visual appearance of the Clayton State University brand and to provide a consistent look and feel across all of our various departments. The websites template, colors and fonts have been branded and coded in the CMS.  Any staff or faculty member have the opportunity to attend CMS training sessions to learn how to edit departmental pages.

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Typography

Clayton State's website uses a style sheet declaring the font type (Lato and Barlow) and font size. Be cautious of changing the font type and font size as it won't look consistent.

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Image Standards

The standard image file types are JPG, PNG or GIF’s. Photo images should be compressed and saved at 72dpi for best loading time for the page. If you need assistance with photo images, please contact the Web Team.

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Website Colors

The website colors below are hex values.

Primary Colors

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Secondary Colors

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Tertiary Colors

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Links

Clear, accessible, and SEO‑friendly links are essential for both user navigation and how search engines understand a website’s content. Link text should be specific and informative, avoiding vague phrases like “click here” and spelling out email addresses in favor of wording that clearly describes the destination. This improves comprehension for screen reader users and provides better context for search engines.

Links should be visually distinct through strong color contrast, underlining, and clear hover and focus states to support keyboard and assistive technology users. Concise yet descriptive link text improves readability, while clearly noting special actions—such as opening a new tab or downloading a file—helps set expectations and builds trust. Using proper HTML anchor elements ensures links are fully accessible across devices and assistive technologies.

Thoughtful placement of links within navigation, content, and calls to action—while avoiding unnecessary repetition—enhances usability. From an SEO standpoint, natural, keyword‑relevant anchor text and a well‑structured internal linking strategy help search engines crawl and interpret the site more effectively. Regularly checking for broken or outdated links further supports usability and search performance. Overall, writing links with real users in mind results in experiences that are intuitive, accessible, and beneficial for both people and search engines.