Public Affairs

Reed uses a web content management system ("CMS") called Cascade, and IT provides Cascade training. As a content editor for a set of pages, you will be able to make minor updates to your web content in the CMS. 

Using Components

Choosing the right layout for your content can help make your page more readable. Review our Components Guidelines to select the right layouts for your content, such as grids, drop downs and tabs, and photo feature panels. 

Formatting Your Page
Cascade has predefined styles that can be added to your page, like call-to-action buttons, links, and a format for introductory paragraphs. These styles will add consistency and usability to your page. Read more about applying custom formats. 

Following Our Accessibility Guidelines
Web accessibility is the practice of making web content more accessible to a wide range of people with disabilities. Review our Accessibility Guidelines for best practices, including the use of headings and alt text.

To change your navigation menu or create a new web page, please submit a web update request form. 

Basic SEO (search engine optimization) will help your page appear higher in Google search results and make it more user-friendly. Our goal is to help all our audiences, including current and prospective students, quickly find the information they are looking for on our website. 

What you must do as a Reed content editor:

• Include alt-text for images on your page. Alt-text is a one-sentence description of an image that gives someone using a screen reader an idea of what is in the image. 
• Include a meta description on your page. A meta description is a short sentence that summarizes the content on your page. It will be partially displayed as part of the search snippet in a search engine results page. Think of it as a pitch for how your page will answer the reader's questions. 
• Use headings in the correct order. Headings help sighted users visually scan the page. They help people with visual impairments find and navigate to content on the page. And they help search engines like Google understand what content is on the page in the paragraphs that follow the heading.   

Read Our SEO Guidelines 

Using the right photo on your web page is critical to communicating Reed's brand, creating the best user experience, and ensuring that we comply with photo usage laws. 

What you must do when selecting a photo for your page:

• Ensure that the photo is publically available and has no known copyright. The public affairs website has information about photo rights, naming protocol, and links to publically available photos (including photos of campus).
• Use the correct image specifications when uploading the photo. The public affairs website includes a sizing guide for each type of photo on Reed's website. 
• Describe images with "alt text" to convey the content and meaning of an image to a visually impaired user.

Review Our Web Image Use Guidelines 

Web accessibility is the practice of making web content more accessible to a wide range of people with disabilities.

What you must do as a Reed content editor:

• Use headings to clearly identify the sections and subsections of your page. Headings help sighted users visually scan the page. They help people with visual impairments find and navigate to content on the page. There are six "levels” of headings that should be used in numerical order to create a hierarchy of sections and subsections. Review Reed's SEO Guidelines and Reed's Accessibility Guidelines for best practices.
• Write informative link text. When linking to more content, do not use generic phrases like "click here." 
  Wrong: "To meet our staff, click here."
  Right: "Meet our staff."
• Describe images with "alt text" to convey the content and meaning of an image to a visually impaired user.