About Us - Duke DHTS Webservices
Policies and Standards
The Web Policies encompass all public facing websites on the internet that serve content and functionality to Duke Medicine constituents or solicit appointments on behalf of Duke.
 
For the purposes of these policies, Duke Medicine includes:
  • Duke University Health System and all its entities
  • Duke University School of Medicine
  • Duke University School of Nursing
  • Private Diagnostic Clinic, PLLC
  • Websites utilizing the Duke University Health System logo, content or offer patient services information to the public are also included
  • Websites processing, collecting or displaying personal information or personal health information for Duke Medicine patients, customers or research collaborators
Exceptions
  • Individual faculty and personal web pages are not within the scope of these policies, but still must adhere to all security and content guidelines as communicated by this policy and the Information Security Officer.  Exception websites must provide disclaimer information as defined in Appendix A - Disclaimer Requirements.
The policies are to serve as a minimum guideline when developing web sites and web applications to Duke Medicine constituents.
 
For details, please review Policies and Standards.
 
One of the primary goals of DHTS Web Services is to try to bring a clear, consistent, and user friendly face to Duke Medicine's web presence.  By striving towards the goal of a unified web identity, we gain several key benefits, such as:
  • A unified vision of what each website should look like means users can tell, at a glance, that they are on a Duke web property.  They also instantly know how to navigate and use the site.
  • A unified platform means that multiple websites are easier to maintain and components can easily be used across websites.  This decreases cost and development time.
  • A unified data organization scheme means that data can be accessed in a standard way, across multiple sites.  This aids communication and interoperability.
 

Why redesign?

 
Redesigning is necessary to adhere to standards because previous sites were not designed with standards in mind.
 

Why standardize?

 
Standardization means that users instantly recognize and can use any Duke property, if they've used one in the past.  Standards decrease barrier to entry and useage, which also means users find what they need faster.
 

Why one consistent brand?

 
Each group at Duke Medicine may have a slightly different approach to treating their patients and doing their work. We recognize that.  However, a single brand is very important.  Perhaps this is best illustrated by an example:
 
Imagine you wanted to go to Home Depot™ to purchase some lumber.  If they didn't have standards and a consistent brand, you might encounter the following:
  • Each store might have a different logo and sign.  Some might be orange, some may be blue.  One logo might be an abstract square, another might be their standard typeface.  Recognizing the store from the street would be difficult.
  • Each physical building would look different.  One might have the standard "warehouse" look, another might be multiple floors.  In one case, the lumber might be to the right of the cash registers, in another it might be in the basement.
  • Employees would have a different dress code.  Some might wear ties, others shorts and a t-shirt.  Still others might wear green smocks.  Knowing who to ask for help would be difficult.
 
Without a doubt, this would be any marketer's nightmare.  You would never know you were in a Home Depot™ store because they are all different!  You would never have any brand loyalty and it would take you twice as long to find the lumber every time because you would need to relearn the store layout whenever you went to a different store in the same brand.
 
On the web, this problem is multiplied because users are constantly jumping from site to site, or in this analogy, from store to store.  Each and every time they need to figure out where they are and how to find what they need.  Standards and a consistent brand minimize this effect.
 

Why separate content, presentation, and code?

 
Our goal is to divide the responsiblities of managing a website along the lines of skills that make sense.  You know your content best - so we let you manage it!  We give you the tools to do this quickly and easily.
 
Likewise, our platform is organized such that designers and programmers can work side by side but never get in each others' way.  This allows us to make graphical changes to the website without programming changes or to fix a bug without changing the site layout.
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