The design specifically addressed the following issues:
- The design is developed with HTML5 and CSS3 languages, which allow the separation between content and appearance, as well as the semantic labeling of the different components of the information to allow its correct reading on all devices in simplified versions of the content, without limits for the use of external accessibility software.
- The layout provides text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed to other forms that users need, such as braille or speech.
- The web color palette also meets WCAG's color contrast criteria.
- In the web style guide there are recommendations for writing legible and understandable texts.
This new website, with an eminently external character in terms of content creation, focuses on the dynamism of content —especially news and events—. With regard to content, it covers the most institutional part of the web and establishes a unified template for studies, centers, departments and a selection of the 15 most outstanding services for the university community in which the information is summarized and extracted to meet external communication objectives.
Project status
During the year 2020, the following phases of the project begin, which involve the extension of the web redesign and the implementation of the new structure to the global set of studies offered, centers (faculties and university schools) and departments. In this phase, the precepts that define the redesign of the appearance and the contents continue to be observed, the web accessibility and the adaptive design prioritized for mobile devices.
Subsequently, the redesign coverage will continue to be extended to the rest of the USC-related sub-sites.
Drupal
In addition to the aesthetic reformulation, noticeable by the users of the web, a change is made in the tool used to manage the USC web to Drupal 9; the latest version of this content manager which, among its principles, is committed to ensuring that it is an accessible tool for creating websites that can also be accessed by people with disabilities.
- They are committed to ensuring that all Drupal core features conform to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines: WCAG 2.0 and ATAG 2.0.
- If you rely on a screen reader or other assistive technology, Drupal encourages and supports the proper use of semantic markup. For example, it is required to include a description of all the images that are placed on the web or it should be possible to use titles reliably for navigation at the page level.
- Additional support for rich Internet applications has been added by adding WAI-ARIA support.
- As for the installed modules, those with the D9AX label (or their previous versions D7AX and D8AX) mean they have done everything possible to ensure that both the modules and the content produced by them are accessible.