Welcome new montclair.edu content editors! Hundreds of individuals across the University community contribute to the montclair.edu website. We’re excited to have you join us.
Step 1: Request Training
To get started, fill out this form to request training. Make sure you read the two steps below to understand what happens after you fill out the form.
Step 2: Accessibility Training
Before you learn how to use WordPress to edit your website, we require all users take a series of two online, on-demand digital accessibility training courses from our partner, Siteimprove. These courses will give you an overview of some of the concerns, tools and pitfalls when trying to create web pages for visitors with disabilities. The two required courses for content editors are:
- WCAG 2.1 New & Improved
- Digital Accessibility for Content Contributors
After submitting the form to request training, you will receive an email from SiteImprove Academy with instructions for logging in to the accessibility training software. You must do this within 48 hours of receiving the email or the log in link will expire. The time limit only applies to setting up your account – as long as you set up your account in time, there’s no time limit for completing the training.
Unfortunately this is not an automated process, so it won’t happen immediately after submitting the form. We will also send you a reminder, so keep an eye out for either email.
Once you complete this training, reply to the email to let us know you’ve completed it.
Step 3: WordPress Training
After you’ve completed the accessibility training, we will create your account in WordPress and set you up for training on how to use the WordPress software specifically. The training also covers some features specific to Montclair State’s custom WordPress theme.
Normally these would be one-on-one in-person sessions but due to coronavirus we’re temporarily handling this training as a self-directed video that you can follow along with using your own account. Once you notify us that you’ve completed accessibility training, we’ll provide a link to the video and instructions on logging in to your WordPress account.
Beyond Basic Training
After completing all three steps above you’ll have access to your WordPress site and an understanding of the basics required for editing it – however, there’s still plenty more to learn if you want to make your website the best it can be.
About Our Website
To help support your editing needs, Digital Communications has created a framework for montclair.edu content that is mobile-friendly and accessible for people with disabilities. Here are some links that may be helpful:
- montclair.edu Page Structure – Learn the parts of a montclair.edu web page, including how your site navigation is built, what page sections are editable by you, and what sections are part of the global template.
- montclair.edu Website Framework – About the custom tools that make our website run, including layout elements you can use on your pages.
About HTML and Accessibility
As part of your content editor training, you’ve learned a lot about the importance of making website content accessible as well as some best practices to follow when editing your website.
Here are some additional resources that may be helpful.
- HTML Tips and Accessibility – Learn the proper way to structure your page content, links, lists, tables and documents to ensure your content is accessible to site visitors with disabilities.
- Montclair State Digital Accessibility Initiative – This University resource contains tutorials and checklists on creating accessible Word and PDF documents.
- Instructional Technology and Design Services (ITDS) offers free on-campus classes for all faculty, staff and students on Creating Accessible Documents & Instructional Materials.
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview – All montclair.edu websites must follow WCAG 2.0 Levels A/AA guidelines.
- Making charts, graphs and maps accessible – Great resource from Penn State for displaying data.
In addition, it can be helpful to try visiting your website while using screen reader software to ensure that individuals with disabilities who use a screen reader can effectively navigate your website. Both the Digital Communications and Information Technology departments at Montclair State University have dedicated laptops with JAWS (Job Access With Speech) software installed for content owners to use to get a better sense as to how their website content is experienced by individuals using screen readers.