Primary content zone
The primary content zone has five layout options as shown at right.
Large graphic images may be placed immediately below the site identity zone or the toolbar.
Home pages often contain many navigation links. A secondary set of navigation links may be located outside of the primary navigation zone to help organize links.
Secondary links often work best if placed immediately below or to the right of the primary home page image.
Never place navigation links in the toolbar. The toolbar is reserved for site tools or utilities.
Large graphics mean longer load times for many visitors. Do not create unnecessarily large pages that load too slowly for your visitors' connection speeds. Even home pages may not need to be graphic-heavy to serve the site well.
Optimize college and other primary WSU home and key entry pages for search engines by including descriptive HTML text.
A background image or gradient may be added to the background. The image must not interfere with text legibility or be a repeating pattern.
Align text and graphics with the established column layout parameters to support a consistent presentation across multiple pages.
The shadowed side and bottom page borders are fixed and must not be altered.
The text color may be changed to any WSU Web palette color but a high level of legibility must be maintained.
Links must change color on mouse rollover.
Breadcrumb navigation may be used to show the link path and location of the page displayed. However, the primary navigation links have been designed to provide this information, so
breadcrumb navigation may not add real value for the visitor. Before implementing breadcrumb navigation, consider if it will add enough value to be worth the required additional maintenance on each page.
Breadcrumb links are positioned at the top of the primary content zone immediately below the site identifier zone or the optional toolbar.
Text size is "x-small".
Links must be upper and lower case. (This is often called headline-style capitalization; for details on correct capitalization, consult the Chicago Manual of Style.) Never use all capitals or all lower-case.
Separate links with a "greater than" arrow symbol (>) and a space on either side of the arrow. Do not replace the arrows with icons, symbols, or other characters.
The link color can be any WSU Web palette color.
Links must change color on mouse rollover and are not underlined.
Default
Full width
Two equal
Three equal
Narrow/wide
