Purpose
All Vanderbilthealth.com and ChildrensHospitalVanderbilt.org sites exist to deliver information about patient care to the public. All VUMC.org sites exist to deliver non-clinical or patient care information about VUMC to academics, medical professionals, and other relevant sources.
Contact webhelp@vumc.org if you have questions or comments about VUMC Web Standards or need help securing Web development resources.
Access:
All VUMC.org sites must be managed using the approved content management system. Overriding pages with custom code is not permitted. Training and support for all content management systems is free and is arranged through the Office of Marketing and Engagement.
Accessibility:
All VUMC sites should abide by ADAs Web Accessibility requirements wherever possible.
Appropriate Use:
The content of all web pages placed on any VUMC-owned or VUMC-managed server or delivered over the VUMC network must comply with all VUMC policies and procedures, as well as local, state, and federal laws. Information providers and their sponsors are responsible for ensuring that Web pages are consistent with VanderbiltHealth standards and conform to existing computer-usage policies.
Authority:
The Office of Marketing and Engagement reserves the right to remove, edit or replace any content that does not conform to VUMC standards. All VUMC Web sites must be pre-approved by the director of Digital Engagment. This includes sites hosted on the VUMC server. All sites must comply with the standards listed on this page.
Architecture:
Use simple and intuitive layouts. If a site becomes too large and unwieldy, feel free to contact us for help.
Commercial Vendors:
Commercial vendors are limited to assistance with content management. The Barista tool is used to create and maintain all VUMC Web sites. Some exceptions are made for grant-funded or multi-institutional sites without overt VUMC branding.
Content:
Information about academic programs, professional events, internal communications and other matters for medical professionals, with the exception of referring providers, should appear on vumc.org sites. Any content for patients and/or referring physicians should only appear on VanderbiltHealth.com and ChildrensHospitalVanderbilt.org.
All content must be original, not copied from another source. Placeholder content (coming soon, save the date, etc.) should not be used.
Copyright:
Vanderbilt computing resources should be used in a manner that is protective of the use privileges and property rights of others. Users must therefore:
- Abide by all local, state, and federal laws, including copyright laws.
- Abide by all applicable software license agreements.
- Use only the accounts, access codes or network identification numbers assigned to them.
- Access only those files or data that they are authorized to use.
If you have questions about copyright contact the VUMC general counsel's office.
Domain Names/urls:
VUMCIT buys and registers domain names (urls) for all VUMC departments, divisions, programs and labs. URLs for patient-focused sites (e.g. VanderbiltHeart.com, VanderbiltDiabetes.com, etc) are also purchased through VUMCIT.
You are charged only what the registry service charges; there is no extra fee. All domain names must be registered through VUMCIT to make sure we have accurate records.
For VUMCIT domain name policies and procedures, see the DNS Policy page.
eCommerce:
There should not be any eCommerce on Barista sites.
Homepages:
The Office of Marketing and Engagement will maintain all VanderbiltHealth.com and ChildrensHospitalVanderbilt.org homepages. We maintain some VUMC.org pages, although most are managed by their respective departments. Content for homepages is provided by the department/clinic. Your homepage must include a contact e-mail address as well as the departments U.S. mail address and phone number with area code.
Also include a link back to your department’s homepage on each screen of your website. This is important because people can enter your website without first going to your homepage.
The department name should be in the title of your page. this will help search engines find your site. Every department should update or refresh the content of its site at least once a month.
Hosting:
All sites in the Barista content management system are hosted free of charge with the support of VUMC IT. For other hosting needs, contact VUMC IT.
Interactive:
Videos and images enrich our sites and are encouraged. Feel free to use quality content produced by VanderbiltHealth or, when appropriate, outside sources (all copyright laws apply).
Patient Privacy:
Patient health information should not be stored on, transmitted, collected through or otherwise come into contact with Barista sites.
Social Media:
See the VUMC Social Media Toolkit site for details on these resources.
Updates:
Update content at least monthly. Content that refers to events in the past or outdated information should be removed. Each department is encouraged to create and follow a schedule for reviewing the site quarterly to be sure content is current.