UBCMS Web Editors

Roles, Responsibilities and Expectations of CAS UBCMS Web Editors

The CAS Marketing and Communications team is here to support you in creating and maintaining your website. Our team supports more than 70 websites and relies on designated department, program, center and institute web editors to take ownership of the content and maintenance of their unit’s website(s).

1. Assign Web Editing and Maintenance Duties

All units who maintain a CAS website must assign web editing duties to someone within the department.

  • This typically is a staff member. It is most effective to have a consistent and permanent editor versus a temporary student assistant. Familiarity with the UBCMS comes with working regularly in the system over time.

2. Complete 2-Step UBCMS Training

CAS UBCMS web editors are required to complete a 2-step training process before gaining access to edit their website:

  1. Complete the UBCMS self-paced training 
  2. Request 1-on-1 (or small group) training session with the CAS Marketing and Communications team through the Website Maintenance and Updates form. This training session is focused on the features of your individual site. By submitting the request for 1-on-1 training you acknowledge that you have completed the UBCMS self-paced training.  

Upon completion of these two steps, web editors will receive Author and Publisher access to their website(s).

3. Get to Know Your Website

Familiarize yourself with the content on the website, the frequency of updates specific content (news, student spotlights, deadlines and dates, faculty updates, etc.).

  • Make a plan within your department on how to manage updates (as requested, reviewed by internal web team, collected for updates on a set schedule, etc.)
  • It is helpful to keep a list or calendar with a schedule of updates.
Web Editor Best Practices

4. Ensure Accessibility

Familiarize yourself with Web Content Accessibilty Guidelines (WCAG). 

We are all responsible for ensuring Web Accessibility.

Main considerations for our websites:

  • PDFs and other documents
    • When possible, build out content of documents onto web pages. The content of a majority of PDFs is more appropriately accessed via web format. If your PDF must be on your website it must be accessible*.
      *SUNY has a pricing agreement with AbleDocs for PDF remediation assistance.
  • Alternative Text for images
  • Video captioning and audio transcription
  • Clear, descriptive link descriptions (no ‘Click Here’ or 'Learn More')
Accessibility Resources

5. Maintain the Content on Your Website

Make regular updates to your website. 

  • The more frequently you use the system, the more familiar it will become and the easier it will be to navigate
  • Refer to UBCMS documentation, self-paced training modules, and your training session notes

6. Request Assistance When Needed

If you have a question, advanced feature request or run into problems, submit a Website Maintenance and Updates work order

  • It is expected that web editors will use the documentation and resources available to complete routine updates before submitting a work order for assistance.
  • We will respond to and complete requests as soon as possible, depending on current work queue and urgency of the request (e.g. site is down vs. routine update)
  • Provide all details in your request, including the urgency of the request, the content or image (if applicable), the URL of the page you require assistance with. We oversee 70+ websites and it is best to point us at the specific page so we can get to your request quickly.
  • If issue appears to be system-wide, our team will escalate the issue to the UBCMS team.

Website Stewardship and Training Resources

Accessibility Resources

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
Web Accessibility at UB
Electronic Document Accessibility at UB
UBCMS Accessibility