Website Content and Feedback Guidelines

February 23, 2023
Geoff Myers
Uncategorized

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Content and Data Formatting Guidelines

Unstructured Text (Document Files)
1. Acceptable File Formats
  1. ✓ HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
  2. ✓ MD (Markdown)
  3. ✓ RTF (Rich Text Format)
  4. ✓ TXT (Plain Text)
2. Unacceptable File Formats
  1. × DOCX/DOC (Microsoft Word)
  2. × PDF (Portable Document Format)
Structured Text (Spreadsheet Files, Databases)
1. Acceptable Spreadsheet File Formats
  1. ✓ CSV (Comma-Separated Values)
  2. ✓ GSHEETS (Google Sheets)
  3. ✓ HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
  4. ✓ NUMBERS (Apple Numbers)
  5. ✓ TSV (Tab-Separated Values)
  6. ✓ XLSX/XLS (Microsoft Excel)
2. Acceptable Serialized Data File Formats
  1. ✓ JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)
  2. ✓ XML (Extensible Markup Language)
  3. ✓ YAML (Yet Another Markup Language)
3. Unacceptable File Formats
  1. × DOCX/DOC (Microsoft Word)
  2. × PDF (Portable Document Format)
  3. × SQL (Structured Query Language)
Photographs (Image Files)
1. Acceptable Image Resolutions
  1. Minimum Resolution for Inline/Embedded Images: 512 x 512 pixels
  2. Minimum Resolution for Background Images: 1920 x 1920 pixels
  3. Maximum Resolution for All Images: 4096 x 4096 pixels
2. Acceptable Image Aspect Ratios
  1. ✓ 1:1 (square; required for product thumbnails)Example Image Dimensions
    1. ✓ 512 x 512 pixels
    2. ✓ 1024 x 1024 pixels
    3. ✓ 2048 x 2048 pixels
  2. ✓ 16:9 (standard for videos; required for featured sliders and video thumbnails)Example Image Dimensions
    1. ✓ 1280 x 720 pixels
    2. ✓ 1920 x 1080 pixels
    3. ✓ 3840 x 2160 pixels
  3. ✓ 2:1 and 1:2Example Image Dimensions
    1. ✓ 1024 x 512 pixels
    2. ✓ 2048 x 1024 pixels
    3. ✓ 4096 x 2048 pixels
  4. ✓ 3:2 and 2:3Example Image Dimensions
    1. ✓ 1440 x 960 pixels
    2. ✓ 1920 x 1280 pixels
    3. ✓ 2160 x 1440 pixels
  5. ✓ 4:3 and 3:4Example Image Dimensions
    1. ✓ 1024 x 768 pixels
    2. ✓ 1280 x 960 pixels
    3. ✓ 1920 x 1440 pixels
3. Acceptable Image File Formats
  1. ✓ AVIF (AV1 Image File Format)
  2. ✓ HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format)
  3. ✓ JPEG (Joint Photographic Expert Group)
  4. ✓ WEBP (Web Picture)
4. Unacceptable Image File Formats
  1. × DOCX/DOC (Microsoft Word)
  2. × GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
  3. × PDF (Portable Document Format)
  4. × TIFF (Tag Image File Format)
Graphics, Logos, and Illustrations (Image Files)
1. Acceptable Vector Image File Formats
  1. ✓ AI (Adobe Illustrator)
  2. ✓ EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)
  3. ✓ PDF (Portable Document Format)
  4. ✓ SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)
2. Acceptable Raster Image File Formats
  1. ✓ AVIF (AV1 Image File Format)
  2. ✓ PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
  3. ✓ WEBP (Web Picture)
3. Unacceptable Image Formats
  1. × DOCX/DOC (Microsoft Word)
  2. × GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
  3. × PDF (Portable Document Format)
Video Codecs and Container Formats (Videos Files)
1. Acceptable Video Resolutions
  1. ✓ Minimum: 720p (HD; 1280 x 720 pixels; 16:9 aspect ratio)
  2. ✓ 1080p (Full HD; 1920 x 1080 pixels; 16:9 aspect ratio)
  3. ✓ Maximum: 2160p (Ultra HD, UHD, 4K; 3840 x 2160 pixels; 16:9 aspect ratio)
2. Acceptable Video Codecs
  1. ✓ AV1 (AOMedia Video 1; Containers: MP4, WebM)
  2. ✓ AVC (H.264; Advanced Video Coding; Containers: 3GP, MP4)
  3. ✓ HEVC (H.265; High Efficiency Video Coding; Containers: MP4)
  4. ✓ Theora (Theora; Containers: Ogg)
  5. ✓ VP8 (Video Processor 8; Containers: 3GP, Ogg, WebM)
  6. ✓ VP9 (Video Processor 9; Containers: MP4, Ogg, WebM)
3. Unacceptable Video Codecs
  1. × H.263 (H.263 Video; Containers: 3GP)
  2. × MP4V-ES (MPEG-4 Video Elemental Stream; Containers: 3GP, MP4)
  3. × MPEG-1 (MPEG-1 Part 2 Visual; Containers: MPEG, QuickTime/MOV)
  4. × MPEG-2 (MPEG-2 Part 2 Visual; Containers: MP4, MPEG, QuickTime/MOV)
Audio Codecs and Container Formats (Audio Files)
1. Acceptable Audio Codecs
  1. ✓ AAC (Advanced Audio Coding; Containers: MP4, ADTS , 3GP)
  2. ✓ ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec; Containers: MP4, QuickTime/MOV)
  3. ✓ FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec; Containers: MP4, Ogg , FLAC)
  4. ✓ MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III; Containers: MP4, ADTS , MPEG , 3GP)
  5. ✓ Opus (Opus; Containers: WebM, MP4, Ogg)
  6. ✓ Vorbis (Vorbis; Containers: WebM, Ogg)
2. Unacceptable Audio Codecs
  1. × AMR (Adaptive Multi-Ratel; Containers: 3GP)
Colors (Color Codes)
1. Acceptable Color Codes
  1. ✓ Hex (Hexadecimal, #RRGGBB)
  2. ✓ HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness)
  3. ✓ RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
2. Unacceptable Color Codes
  1. × CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black)
  2. × HSV (Hue, Saturation, Value)
Typography (Font Files)
1. Acceptable Font File Formats
  1. ✓ OTF (OpenType)
  2. ✓ SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)
  3. ✓ TTF (TrueType)
  4. ✓ WOFF (Web Open Font Format)
  5. ✓ WOFF2 (Web Open Font Format 2)
2. Unacceptable Font File Formats
  1. × EOT (Embedded OpenType)

Website Text Guidelines
1. Do NOT send Word documents; instead, embed or insert text directly into email body
2. Do NOT use a corporate or formal tone; instead, use a friendly, personal tone
3. Do NOT use any special text formatting or styling besides bold, italics, and underline
4. Do NOT use cliché, generic, misleading, or vague marketing or sales terminology
5. Do NOT use emojis or other non-ASCII special characters
6. Do NOT use multiple consecutive question marks, exclamation marks, or periods
7. Do NOT use UPPERCASE unless it is a brand name
8. Double check your spelling and grammar
9. Use bulleted and numbered lists when listing more than three (3) items
10. Use clear and concise wording
11. Use clear and logical content hierarchy
12. Use short paragraphs (2-4 sentences maximum)
13. Use short, descriptive titles and headings
Website Image Guidelines
1. Minimum image resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels (about 0.75 megapixels)
2. Recommended image resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels (about 2 megapixels) or larger
3. Recommended file formats for photographs: HEIC/HEIF, JPEG, PNG, or TIFF format
4. Recommended file formats for logos and graphics: AI, EPS, PDF, or SVG format
5. Recommended aspect ratios: landscape (i.e. horizontal, 16:9, 4:3, 3:2) and square (i.e. 1:1)
6. Descriptive “alt” text for all images is required for ADA compliance (accessibility) and SEO (search engine optimization)
7. Do NOT add, embed, or insert text inside of images (e.g. using Photoshop, Paint, or Preview)
8. Do NOT use memes or animated GIFs
9. If you are sharing more than 10 images, organize them into folders by category or subject
10. If you are sharing more than 5 images, do NOT send them as individual email attachments; instead, upload and share them via Apple iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive (share with [email protected])
11. Image subjects should be well lit and in clear focus
12. Images downloaded from Facebook and Twitter are generally poor quality due to low resolution and high compression
13. Images found via Google Image Search are NOT acceptable unless you have explicit, written permission from the copyright owner to use the image
14. Images with transparent (or pure white) backgrounds are most flexible and easiest to blend into page
15. Important subjects should NOT be near edge of frame as images may be cropped
16. Logo images should have transparent backgrounds
17. Original, unedited images are preferred to highly edited or processed images
18. Use descriptive and unique image filenames (e.g. use “black-dog-in-park.jpg”; do NOT use “IMG_12345.jpg”)
19. You must be the sole copyright owner of the image or have explicit, written permission from the copyright owner of the image to use it
20. You must request and receive explicit, written permission from parents or guardians of all minors under the age of 18 whose faces are identifiable in photos
21. You should request and receive explicit, written permission from all human subjects whose faces are identifiable in photos
22. Recommended websites for finding free fonts:
  1. DaFont: https://www.dafont.com
  2. Font Squirrel: https://www.fontsquirrel.com
  3. FontSpace: https://www.fontspace.com
  4. Google Fonts: https://fonts.google.com
23. Recommended websites for finding paid fonts:
  1. Adobe Fonts: https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts
  2. Fonts.com: https://www.fonts.com
  3. Monotype: https://www.monotype.com
  4. MyFonts: https://www.myfonts.com
24. Recommended websites for finding and creating color schemes:
  1. Adobe Color: https://color.adobe.com/explore
  2. Color Hunt: https://colorhunt.co/palettes
  3. COLOURlovers: https://www.colourlovers.com/palettes
  4. Coolors: https://coolors.co/browser/latest/1
  5. SchemeColor: https://www.schemecolor.com
25. Recommended websites for finding free stock photographs and videos:
  1. Burst: https://burst.shopify.com
  2. FreePhotos.cc: https://freephotos.cc
  3. Pexels: https://www.pexels.com
  4. Pixabay: https://pixabay.com
  5. StockSnap.io: https://stocksnap.io
  6. Unsplash: https://unsplash.com
26. Recommended websites for finding paid stock photographs and videos:
  1. Adobe Stock: https://stock.adobe.com
  2. Getty Images: https://www.gettyimages.com
  3. iStock: https://www.istockphoto.com
  4. Shutterstock: https://www.shutterstock.com
  5. Stockvault: https://www.stockvault.net
  6. Storyblocks: https://www.storyblocks.com
27. Recommended websites for finding stock graphics and icons:
  1. FlatIcon: https://www.flaticon.com
  2. Font Awesome: https://fontawesome.com/icons?d=gallery
  3. Freepik: https://www.freepik.com
  4. Iconfinder: https://www.iconfinder.com
  5. Icons8: https://icons8.com
  6. Iconshock: https://www.iconshock.com
  7. The Noun Project: https://thenounproject.com
  8. Vecteezy: https://www.vecteezy.com
Website Video Guidelines
1. Minimum video resolution: 1280 x 720 pixels (i.e. HD, 720p)
2. Recommended video resolutions: 1920 x 1080 pixels (i.e. Full HD, 1080p) and 3940 x 2160 pixels (i.e. UltraHD, 2160p, 4K)
3. Recommended aspect ratio: 16:9 (standard widescreen)
4. Recommended video codecs: H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, VP8, VP9, AV1
5. Recommended audio codecs: […]
6. Recommended file bitrates: […]
7. Recommended file formats: MP4, WebM
8. Upload videos to YouTube or Vimeo then provide video URL or HTML embed code
Website Feedback Guidelines
1. Do NOT send a separate, individual email for each question or request; combine and consolidate items into 1-5 emails per day maximum
2. Do NOT send an email with a new subject line if there is already an existing, relevant email discussion; instead, simply reply to the existing email thread
3. Do NOT use irrelevant, generic, or vague subject lines; instead, use descriptive, relevant, and specific subject lines
4. Do NOT use long paragraphs; provide a numbered list of feedback items
5. If possible, use a project or task management app or tool to organize project ideas, questions, requests, and tasks
6. Provide annotated screenshots whenever possible instead of text only
7. Separate specific requests and tasks from general questions or ideas
8. If you discover or notice a bug or issue, provide the following information:
  1. Operating system name and version
  2. Browser name and version
  3. URL(s) of bug/issue
  4. Screenshot(s) of bug/issue
  5. Error message/code (if applicable)
  6. Account username and password (if applicable)
  7. Detailed steps for reproducing bug/issue