Web Governance Policy

The purpose of New York Tech’s web governance is to ensure the effective management, integrity, and accessibility of the university’s digital presence. Our website should provide a consistent, visitor-first experience that reflects the innovation and energy of New York Tech and supports recruitment, retention, research visibility, and alumni engagement.

This policy applies to all faculty, staff, and student employees who have access to nyit.edu and official subdomains or microsites. Strategic Communications oversees branded web content, standards, and templates. Information Technology Services (ITS) maintains server infrastructure, security, and technical systems. Any third-party tools, hosting, or software must be approved by Strategic Communications and ITS before implementation.

The website nyit.edu is the sole property of New York Tech. While designated faculty, staff, and student employees may have access to edit specific sections, create new content, and manage existing materials, the website and all its sub-sites remain the property of New York Tech. All content must align with the university’s brand, policies, and strategic objectives to ensure a consistent and high-quality digital presence.

Primary

• Prospective students — the site should inspire them to apply, visit, and enroll.

Secondary

• Current students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, donors, and community/industry partners.

Visitors first

• Our website is designed to be clear, easy to navigate, and focused on the needs of our visitors. Content must be concise, mobile-friendly, free of jargon, and oriented to clear next steps.

Brand-aligned

• Every page should reflect New York Tech’s identity, messaging, and mission.

Always evolving

• We continuously update and improve the site to enhance user experience and meet institutional goals.

Accessibility first

• Prioritize user needs with a website structure.
• Design based on visitor goals and behavior. 
• Ensure ADA compliance and user-friendliness through accessible content, clear information architecture, and intuitive navigation. 

Simplify access 

• Group content by function and need, allowing users to find everything on a given topic in one place, even if it spans multiple departments. 

• Offer a seamless experience across resources, eliminating the need to jump between fragmented pages. 

Optimize for engagement 

• Craft concise, easy-to-read content optimized for mobile, avoiding academic jargon and focusing on web best practices. 
• Showcase the institution’s strengths and address target audience needs effectively. 

Elevate New York Tech’s brand and reputation 

• Achieve visual cohesion throughout the website with consistent structure, navigation, and content presentation. 
• Enhance brand perception by aligning messaging and design with institutional objectives. 

Establish clear website governance 

• Define roles and responsibilities for website ownership, oversight, and contributors. 
• Implement defined workflows, training programs, and compliance guidelines.

Continuous improvement 

• Set measurable website goals and utilize analytics to track progress. 
• Optimize performance and user experience. 
• Discovery and use of best practices to ensure sustained success. 

Web Governance Board

• Composed of key individuals from Information Technology Services and Strategic Communications.

• Responsibilities include broad oversight of the strategic direction of nyit.edu.

Strategic Communications Team

• Led by the Digital Communications Team, Strategic Communications is responsible for providing primary strategic direction and support for nyit.edu. 

Web Advisory Committee

• Composed of institutional stakeholders, offering input on website strategy, suggesting features, and providing feedback. This group will propose ideas, requests, and concerns to Strategic Communications.

Information Technology Services

• Responsible for web-server operations, server setup, maintenance, troubleshooting, and server-level security. Administers and maintains the web infrastructure, installs and upgrades servers and software, and collaborates with Strategic Communications for security and accessibility.
• ITS is also responsible for the health and operation of the CMS (WordPress) and related applications.

Deans and Department Chairs

• Guide the overall strategic direction of their departments. Responsible for identifying web editors and publishers, creating original marketing content, and working with Strategic Communications, as necessary, and giving final approval to changes and new pages, if required. 

Web Editors

• Responsible for day-to-day maintenance, including fielding web update requests from content stakeholders, ensuring content compliance with web guidelines, conducting regular reviews, and collaborating, with Strategic Communications as necessary. Completes and remains updated on approved CMS/ADA web compliance training. 

Publishers 

• Responsible for reviewing, approving, and publishing any updates provided by the editors, ensuring approval by stakeholders (deans, VPs, directors, or content providers) as required, and collaborating as necessary with Strategic Communications. 

Strategic Communications Team

• Responsibilities include setting website direction and policies, ensuring site quality and content integrity, providing training and support, and collaborating as necessary with editors, publishers, and stakeholders. 

All official content must use the approved CMS (WordPress).

Non-marketing pages (minor edits) 

• Minor edits, additions, deletions, reformatting can be made by trained editors and publishers following this process:  
  • Request (stakeholder) → Review and input (editor) → Review and edit as necessary (publisher) → Optional review and approval (dean, VP, director, stakeholder, as appropriate) → Publish (publisher) → Post-publish audit (SC) 

Non-marketing pages (major edits) 

• Substantial editorial changes and page reorganizations, including the additions of images and videos, (can only be made by/must be approved by) Strategic Communications: 
  • Request (stakeholder) → Forward request to Strategic Communications via web update form (editor) → Review, draft, and edit as necessary (Strategic Communications) → Review, comment, and approve → (stakeholder) → Publish (SC). 

High-Level Marketing Pages  

• All changes to top-level landing, school, degree, and department pages, as well as faculty/staff biosketches, can only be made by Strategic Communications: 
  • Request (stakeholder) → Forward request to Strategic Communications via web update form (editor) → Review, draft, and edit as necessary (Strategic Communications) → Review, comment, and approve → (stakeholder) → Publish (SC) 

New Pages, Microsites, and Changes to Information Architecture 

• All new pages, microsites, and any changes to the structure of the website, including reorganization of sections and the deletion of pages, can only be made by Strategic Communications. 
  • Request (stakeholder) → Forward request to Strategic Communications via web update form (editor) → Review, draft, and edit as necessary (Strategic Communications) → Review, comment, and approve → (stakeholder) → Publish (SC). 
• Requests for updates and new pages can be submitted directly to Strategic Communications via our web update form. Strategic Communications may also edit, archive, or remove non-compliant or outdated content, as necessary. 
• Information Technology Services (ITS) must be consulted before deploying any software products, plug-ins, services, embedded scripts, or content on the New York Tech website. 

• Editors and publishers must complete approved CMS and accessibility training prior to receiving credentials. 
• Strategic Communications will provide initial and ongoing training and documentation. 
• Refresher training for editors and publishers will be provided as necessary and is required when standards change. 

New York Tech adheres to WCAG 2.1 AA and applicable laws. New York Tech is committed to providing equal access to educational programs, services, activities, and events. Content producers must adhere to the accessibility guidelines for electronic information, communication, and technology.

Images

• Meaningful alt text is required so that non-visual visitors using text browsers can know the information your picture conveys. 

Videos

• All videos posted on the New York Tech website must be captioned and ADA compliant. Non-captioned videos will be removed.

PDFs

• PDFs on the website must be accessible documents. Non-accessible PDFs will be removed.

UX

• All web pages must have consistent, responsive layouts with clear navigation and headings. 
• Adhere to mobile first best practices. 

Photos

• Images displayed on the website must align with New York Tech’s brand standards.
• Strategic Communications holds the authority to ensure that all images, photos, and graphics comply with New York Tech’s brand standards.

Videos

• Must follow institutional tone, messaging, and accessibility requirements.

PDFs

It is preferable to reformat PDFs into web-native pages. Some instances may warrant uploading PDFs, such as: 

• Documents with layout elements not possible with web templates
• Custom forms with complex interactive fields
• Scans of historical documents
• Print publication-designed documents
• Legally restricted formats (e.g., U.S. tax forms)
• Documents longer than 20 pages

External links are subject to approval by Strategic Communications and may be removed without notice if they compromise UX, accessibility, or security. Third-party hosting, plug-ins, scripts, or services require prior review and approval by ITS and Strategic Communications. Official domains and subdomains should reside under the nyit.edu framework unless a documented exception is granted.

Landing pages

• Reviewed quarterly by assigned editors.

Full site/unit reviews

• Conducted at least every six months.

Analytics

• Use performance data and user feedback to prioritize updates.

Non-compliant pages may be unpublished or removed; repeated violations may result in loss of CMS access. Exception requests (e.g., unique hosting, non-standard templates) require written rationale and approval by the Web Governance Board.

• Editorial Style Guide
• Editorial Style Guide Cheat Sheet 
• Accessibility Guidelines
• Data Security & Access Management Policy
• Branding & Identity Standards
• Social Media Guidelines

For governance, training, CMS access, or compliance questions, please contact the Office of Strategic Communications at sc@nyit.edu. Training resources and request forms are available on the internal communications site. Requests for web updates and new pages can also be submitted directly to Strategic Communications via our web update form.