Guide

Creating a corporate information page

Updated on 25 September 2023

Guidance for CMS editors on how to write and publish corporate information content on the University website

On this page

Corporate information content type 

You should use the corporate information content type if you need to:

  • publish a University policy or other compliance type content that needs to be replicated from a source document
  • publish facts and figures about the University
  • publish a privacy notice
  • provide a brochure or other marketing materials as a download
  • provide information about the organisational structure of the University

Don’t use the corporate information content type if you need to:

  • explain how to follow a University policy or procedure (use Guide
  • publish instructional or guidance type content (use Guide) 
  • publish rankings information (use Ranking)
  • publish a press release for journalists (use Story)

Don’t create corporate information for:

  • content that duplicates other content on the University website
  • content that is already provided in more detail or with greater authority by another organisation or website
  • creating lists of links
  • FAQs (these lead to unfocused, poorly structured content that risks duplicating content elsewhere)

Writing a corporate information page title

Corporate information page titles should:

  • be informative and give the reader a sense of what the content is about
  • make sense out of context, this helps the reader understand the content when it’s presented in search engine results (for example, 'Flexible working policy' is clearer than 'Flexible working')
  • where possible, front-load the most important words (for example, 'Supplementary funding 2020/21 application' is preferable to 'Application for supplementary funding 2020/21')

Do:

  • use sentence case in the title (this means you only capitalise the first letter of the first word unless a word is a proper noun or formal title)
  • use colons rather than hyphens as a separator, for example, 'Maternity: checklist for managers’

Don’t:

  • use a question as a title as it creates ambiguity about the content

Writing a corporation information page summary

Use the summary to explain the purpose of the corporate information page and identify who it is for.

As well as displaying at the top of the page, summaries also show in search results. This helps users quickly identify whether the content might be useful to them.

Summaries should be clear and concise. Aim for a sentence, however if that’s difficult then two sentences are fine. The summary is the first sentence of the content so should make sense when it's read continuously with the rest of the content.

Example

Title

Flexible working policy

Summary

Outlines the range of flexible working practices and a variety of flexible working arrangements which may be available to staff at the University

Writing corporate information content

Do:

  • use clear, straightforward language
  • break the content up with headings to make it easier to scan
  • use information panels to highlight vital information
  • include contact details if needed
  • follow the guidelines outlined in the University content style guide 

Don’t:

  • repeat the summary
  • add walls of text which make the content difficult to read and scan
  • use generic headings such as 'Further information'
  • use unnecessary headings such as 'Introduction'
  • structure headings as questions (this front-loads headings with similar phrases like 'Can I...', 'What happens if...', 'I am...' and makes the content harder to scan

Downloads

One or more files can be added as a download at the bottom of a corporate information page.

You should think carefully before adding a download and ask yourself if it would be possible to provide the same information as part of the content of the page rather than as a download. Consider why you want a PDF. Is it because you expect people to download and print the document and if so, why?

If PDF format is the only way to provide information then remember that under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 we have a legal obligation to ensure our website content can be used by as many people as possible. With regards to PDFs, this means you must ensure files are marked up to ensure that people using screen readers and other devices can navigate the content and identify sections, headings, and images. PDFs should not be document scans.

In practice you should take reasonable measures to avoid providing content in PDF format only, particularly if the content is mostly text.

Learn more about publishing PDFs on the University website

Taxonomies for corporate information content

We use taxonomies in content types to organise content, publish it to different locations, and give it meaning so people can find it easily. Taxonomies take the form of assignable categories or tags.  

Below are the corporate information taxonomies that an editor should use.

Group

'Group' allows the editor to indicate the part of the University that is responsible for the policy, procedure etc.

Corporation information type

As the name implies, this taxonomy indicates the type of corporate information. 'Policy', 'procedure', and 'disclaimer' are just some of these. For official procedural or compliance type content such as policies the type will often be part of the source document title, for example, 'Flexible working policy'.

Corporation information category

The corporation information category associates items with broader thematic areas such as 'Health and safety' and 'Data protection'.

Resources for writing corporate information content

The University content style guide provides guidance for editors to ensure consistency of style across all University of Dundee content. It includes information about:

Enquiries