Creating New Sites

All sites associated with the university, regardless of how they are created, must be created in compliance with WCAG Level AA guidelines and documented on the Director of Digital Accessibility's master list to ensure they receive regular compliance reviews. 

Building New Sites in Omni CMS

Most of the university's websites are built in and managed through the Omni CMS (content management system). Sites built in Omni CMS automatically use a template that handles most digital accessibility requirements for you. 

1. Notify the Director of Digital Accessibility.
   Before you begin, you are responsible for notifying the director of your plans to create the site.
2. Establish the Site Manager. 
   Each site needs at least one Site Manager. 
3. Train the appropriate people. 
   Anyone creating, editing or managing content that could be published to your new site will need to go through accessibility training if they haven't already. This may be in addition to Omni CMS training if this is your first time building a site in Omni CMS.
4. Build the site.
   The Digital Strategy team will work with you to build your site and prepare it for launch.
5. Accessibility review.
   The Director of Digital Accessibility will review your site for compliance before launch, noting any issues and ensuring they are corrected.
6. Site added to Master List.
   The Director of Digital Accessibility will add the site to the Master List once it has launched.

New Sites Built Outside of Omni CMS

1. Notify the Director of Digital Accessibility.
   Before you begin, you are responsible for notifying the director of your plans to create the site.
2. Justify your reasoning. 
   You will need to make a case to the Office of Owned Media, the Digital Accessibility Committee and the Director of Digital Accessibility as to why your site cannot be built inside Omni CMS. You will need an extremely convincing reason to build your site outside of the university's content management system. A decision will be made on a case-by-case basis.
3. Train the team.
   Assuming your request to create a site outside of Omni CMS is approved, all USC employees on your team will need to go through accessibility training if they haven't already.
4. Any vendor contracts need to include the proper accessibility checks.
   Vendors must agree to contractual language that they will build the site and its accompanying digital assets according to WCAG Level AA guidelines. Any third-party products used as part of the site must be accessible as well. See procedures for purchasing or using free third-party products for more.
5. Accessibility review. 
   The Director of Digital Accessibility will review your site for compliance before launch, noting any issues and ensuring they are corrected. All issues, even those that fall to a vendor to fix, must be corrected or have a plan for correction within a specific time frame before the site can launch.
6. Site added to Master List.
   The Director of Digital Accessibility will add the site to the Master List once it has launched.

Developing New Digital Properties Internally

1. Notify the Director of Digital Accessibility.
   Before you begin, you are responsible for notifying the director of your plans to create the new app, tool or digital property.
2. Train the development team.
   Before working on new digital assets, internal developers must go through accessibility training if they haven't already.
3. Any vendor contracts need to include the proper accessibility checks.
   Vendors must agree to contractual language that they will build any digital property and any accompanying tools, forms or other interactions according to accepted accessibility standards. Any third-party products used as part of the digital property must be accessible as well. See procedures for purchasing or using free third-party products for more.
4. Build to digital accessibility standards.
   The new digital property must be built in accordance with accepted WCAG Level AA digital accessibility guidelines.
5. Accessibility review.
   The Director of Digital Accessibility will review the new digital property for compliance before launch, noting any issues and ensuring they are corrected. All issues, even those that fall to a vendor to fix, must be corrected or have a plan for correction within a specific time frame before the site can launch.
6. Site added to Master List.
   The Director of Digital Accessibility will add the site to the Master List once it has launched.
7. Plan for ongoing audits.
   The new digital property will be reviewed regularly, like any other USC site, app, tool or other technology.