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Website Launch Process

When you are ready to launch your site, please follow the following steps:

Step 1. Final Site Check

  • Check your site for accessibility problems
    • Incorrect heading levels
    • Non-meaningful link text
    • Tables without headings
    • Images without  
  • Check in all checked-out pages
    • In OU Campus, go to Dashboard -> Current Projects. All of your checked-out pages will be listed. Click the light bulb icon to check them in.
  • Remove unwanted content
    • Make sure you have removed any backup, test or temporary content from the site
    • Any page that has a link to it is a live page that needs to be evaluated
    • Not publishing a page is not a reliable way to keep it off of the site, since Web Services will occasionally need to publish your entire site in order to apply updates to page templates.
  • Check your site index (there is a link to it in the right column of your Home Page)
    • Make sure there are no pages without titles (they would appear as blank rows at the top of the site index page)
    • Make sure there are no pages you don't intend to be live
    • Make sure the titles shown in the site index are meaningful and not repeated
Failure to do any of the above can delay and launch of your site.

Step 2. Notify Web Services

  1. Complete the website registration form
  2. Stop making changes or additions to your site until it is launched

Step 3. Site Evaluation and Problem Correcting

  1. Web Services will perform an evaluation that includes testing for usability and accessibility
  2. An evaluation report will be provided within 10 business days detailing any issues that need to be resolved before the site can go live
  3. The site owner will resolve all of the issues identified in the report 
  4. The Web Services Unit will re-evaluate the website. If there are any remaining or new issues found, the Web Services Unit will provide an updated evaluation report
  5. Web Services is available for consultation and assistance in correcting problems

Step 4. Site Launch

  1. When all problems have been resolved, the Web Services unit will work with the site owner  to determine a launch date
  2. The site owner performs any necessary internal communication about URL and other site changes
  3. The website is launched on the approved launch date
  4. If there is a website already at the same URL, it is archived and taken off-line and URL redirections from the old site to new site are set up by Web Services

Step 5. Post-Launch

  • The site is added to the A-Z index (if it is not already there)
  • The site is added to  Accessibility Reports so that continued accessibility can be monitored
  • Website is featured on the Accessibility News page
  • Content editor(s) continue to maintain the website
  • Web Services Unit continues to provide technical assistance. Open an iSupport ticket with detailed information.