Electronic communication tools, guidelines, and policies for

COMMUNICATIONS TRAININGPART 1

Electronic communication tools, guidelines, and policies for Salt Lake City School District schools and departments.

Today’s Training Agenda

• Types of Content and Content Workflow

• Writing for the Web

• Policies and Guidelines for effective communications on the Internet

• Online Calendars

• Publishing events and schedules through Microsoft Outlook

• Basic Website Editing with Adobe Contribute

• Software Layout

• Text Editing

• Using Tables

• Working with Images

• Inserting Hyperlinks

• Template Properties

COMMUNICATIONS TRAINING – PART 1

Types of Content


Microsoft Outlook

Events & Schedules that include a Subject, Location, Start & Stop Times, and Short Description

Calendar Items Adobe

Contribute

General content about a particular topic that may include text, images, video, PDF documents, etc.

General Info Adobe

Contribute

A special article written specifically to promote an event, award, program, etc.

News Feature

Content Workflow


Promote(Homepage, School Messenger, & Social Media)

News Features

General Info

Calendar Items

Writing for the Web

• People read the web differently than they do print

• With print:

• We can control the ready, knowing what they’ve read previously

• We can write from introduction to conclusion building arguments

• With web:

• Users skim content

• Ignore details to read content faster


Here are some basic facts:

• Web users generally ignore extraneous graphics.

• 79% of users scan the page instead of reading word for word, focusing on headlines, summaries and captions.

• Web readers are three times more likely than newspaper readers to limit in-depth reading to short paragraphs.

• Of those Web users who do read the entire page, most only absorb 75% of the content.


Reasons for this behavior include:

• Reading from a computer monitor is 25% slower than reading from print.

• Reading from a computer monitor increases eye strain and fatigue.

• Web users often scan center-left-right, instead of left-right.


From this we learn that:

• Web users are active, not passive. If a quick scan doesn't show them the information they need, they won't spend time searching for it.

• The longer the text, the less likely Web users are to read it.

• The longer the text, the faster Web users will skim the scannable elements (headlines, summaries, and captions) - if they scan the page at all.


The two most important conclusions are:

• Web content should have 50% of the word count of its paper equivalent.

Why? Because:

• Users don't read on the Web. They scan pages and pick out headings, sentences, and phrases to find what they need.


How to improve communications for internet consumption…

• Quality and Style of Content

• Structure of Content


Quality and Style of Content

• Keep it simple - Most journalists are told to write on a sixth-grade level. Avoid complication. Use simple, to-the-point sentences.

• Avoid educational jargon – No one outside of this office uses the term rubric. Once again, think sixth-grade reading level.

• Avoid acronyms – We have plenty – NCLB, AYP, DIBELS, CRT, etc. Don't use them, or if you have to, explain what they mean.


Follow writing style guide standards

• Salt Lake City School District Style Guide

slcschools.org/styleguide


http://www.slcschools.org/departments/communications/documents/2011-07-26_SLCSD-Style-Guide.pdf

Common Style Guide Issues

• Dates - It's April 6, not April 6th. Capitalize the names of months in all uses. When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. (Dec. 18, Oct. 2) Spell out when using a month alone or with a year. Do not separate the month and the year with a comma (January 2003). When a date refers to a month, day and year, separate with a comma (Jan. 1, 2003). Capitalize and spell out days of the week.

• Times Use figures except for noon and midnight. Use a colon to separate hours from minutes, but avoid ":00" to represent the top of the hour (10:45 a.m., 4 p.m.). Avoid such redundancies as 7 a.m. this morning, 7 p.m. tonight or 12 noon. See noon, a.m., p.m. Never use o'clock or figures with noon or midnight (not 12 noon).

• Acronyms - Avoid using an acronym on first reference, unless its meaning is readily recognized. Preferred form is to write a name in full on first reference, directly followed by the acronym in parentheses. An acronym then can be used in subsequent references - American College Test (ACT). Use periods in two-letter abbreviations, but, generally, omit them in longer abbreviations and acronyms.


Common Style Guide Issues

• School Names - Always use the full school name for the first reference on the page (Escalante Elementary School).

• Email - Always lowercase. When listing an email address, use all lowercase letters and do not use quotation marks ([email protected]).

• Salt Lake City School District Not Salt Lake School District. Spell out on first reference. Avoid using SLCSD as an acronym. Use district (not capitalized) on second reference.

• Salt Lake City Board of Education Spell out on first reference. On second reference, refer to it simply as the board (not capitalized). Always use formal names for board members.


Images and Videos

• Supplement your content• Images should only supplement content and assist with conveying a

message. Images should never be the sole source for a message (with the exception of image galleries, slideshows, and/or videos).

• Avoid Clip Art

• From our Style Guide “The use of generic clip art in district documents and publications is discouraged. While such clip art is readily available, it provides an unprofessional and often cartoonish image that is not consistent with our district branding efforts. The Communications Department has a library of photographs that can be used in documents and publications. The department can also assist in searching for a specific, professionally edited photograph if you have specific needs.”


Images and Videos

• Microsoft Clip Art

• We CAN use the clip art for schools projects and assignments and for personal and noncommercial reasons.

• We CANNOT use it for brochures that advertise classes that cost money.

• We CANNOT use clip art on our websites or newsletters.

• We CANNOT use clip art to create a company logo.

Several of the clip art images contained in the Microsoft products are actually owned by third parties who have granted Microsoft the permission to use the content, but these third parties have not given us the permission to use it.


Images and Videos

• Google Images

• Not free to use, owned by the companies and websites where they reside

• Check with those website owners for terms of use

• Get permission

• Stock Photography and Video

• The district has a nice collection, come see it!

• There are many free stock photography/video websites out there

• Check the terms of use before using


Translations

• Website content DOES NOT need to be translated

• Google Translate

• Official PDF documents MUST BE translated

• Documents that must be on Letterhead

• Letters or Memos

• Policies, Procedures, or other Legal Documents

• Faculty Disclosures Documents

• SCC/PTA Meeting Agendas or Minutes

• Forms that must have a paper record

• Newsletters, Fliers or Posters meant for print



District Communication Policies

• Do not advertise (for any group, company or organization) without the superintendent's approval. Other administrative procedures connected with the AUP say we do not use the website for "commercial purposes, financial gain, personal business, product advertisement, religious or political lobbying."

• Unless the release of a student’s information has been denied as

described in the Annual Notice, the student may be photographed

or videotaped by news media during coverage of school events or

programs.


District Communication Policies

• Only district web managers, district web editors, school principals, school web editors and licensed teachers. Any student webpage or work must be published under the sponsorship of one of the above, who will be responsible for the content. Any webpage authored by school district patrons, volunteers, or other staff published on district or school servers, must be sponsored by the appropriately authorized personnel.

• Social media accounts are extensions of school and district websites and are included under these policies.

• More details can be found in policies…P-8, I-18, I-23, S-2 and the district style guide

When in doubt…

Ask your Principal!!


How to improve communications for internet consumption…

• √ Quality and Style of Content

• Structure of Content


Structure of Content

• Simple and consistent structure helps web readers to scan quickly to find the content their looking for.

• The Web is also read by machines. That’s right, machines!

• Search Engines

• Assistive Technology

• Multiple Browsers

• Multiple Devices


Working with Outlook Calendars

• Add a calendar to your Outlook account

• All district employees have read & request access

• Managing General Events

• Approving Room Reservations


• Images

• Video

• Bold

• Italics


Organize our content with…

• Headings

• Paragraphs

• Lists

• Tables

First, organize your content with…

Sections with headings in a hierarchal fashion, like a table of contents. Heading 2 inside of Heading 1, etc.

• Heading 1

• Heading 2

• Heading 2

• Heading 1

• Heading 2

• Heading 3

• Heading 3


Then add your content based on these rules:

• Always at least one paragraph describing each section no matter what level it is. Even if its only one small sentence.

• A paragraph should always precede a list or a table to describe the them.

• Never use tables to align content. Tables should only be used for data or other grid type content.

• Images should only supplement content and assist with conveying a message. Images should never be the sole source for a message (with the exception of image galleries/slideshows).


Example

http://www.slcschools.org/departments/communications/tutorials/Academic-Resources-Sample-Page.php

What about Bold and Italics?

• Bold (Strong) – indicates that the content has increased importance for some reason.

• Italics (Emphasis) – used to stress emphasis, i.e., something you’d pronounce differently


What about design?

• All styles (color, size, position, alignment) will be determined by the over all design of the site.

• This is managed by the site administrator, me.

• Welcome all suggestions, requests, comments on the site design and organization


Apply to our 3 Content Types


Microsoft Outlook

Events & Schedules that include a Subject, Location, Start & Stop Times, and Short Description

Calendar Item Adobe

Contribute

General content about a particular topic that may include text, images, video, PDF documents, etc.

General Info Adobe

Contribute

A special article written specifically to promote an event, award, program, etc.

News Feature

Online Calendars with Microsoft Outlook

• All schools (and some district departments) have


Internal Calendar

• Not published online

• Staff can make requests

• No sub calendars

Public Calendars

• Published online

• Multiple calendars

• Staff cannotmake requests

Public School Calendars are…

• Bell Schedule

• Community

• Library

• SCC

• Testing

• General


• Extras for high schools

• Activities

• Individual Athletics


Lets take a look…

Open Microsoft Outlook 2013


General Information and News Features with Adobe Contribute

• Content Management System (CMS)

• Multi-user environment

• No coding – No experience

• Ensure design and backend integrity

• Ensure Internet regulations and guidelines

• Search Engine Optimization

• Browser Compatibility

• Accessibility (Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act)


Lets take a look…

Open Adobe Contribute 6.5

Connect Contribute

connect:contribute.slcsd.net


• Custom Template Features

• Optional Regions

• Page content that can be turned on or off

• Repeating Regions

• Blocks of content that can be added, removed, or re-ordered

• Page Parameters

• Variables that are set and included in multiple areas of the page
