Naming your files appropriately and providing alt tags for images is important for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Website Accessibility, and functionality. Please follow these conventions when adding files to your site.
All media on you site (documents, images, video, audio) should use the same conventions:
- Use simple, concise descriptions of the file content
- start with a general topic and add specific descriptive words as needed.
- make sure your titles accurately describe the purpose and content so they can be easily identified once they are downloaded to the user's computer.
- Choose descriptive words contextual to the containing site or page. For example, viu-<site>-<page>-<description>.jpg (eg. viu-it-drupal-training.pdf). That way, when someone downloads it, there's context to the department or unit from which the file originated.
- Do not use revision, dates, years, or any words not associated with the context of its Title in the file name (“for_web”, “DRAFT”, etc.) unless the file is required for archival purposes.
- Separate words with hyphens
- Keep file names reasonably short (3 - 8 words)
- Acceptable file types are: pdf, docx, xlsx, pptx
Examples
| File Name |
Context |
| VIU-Financial-Aid-Tuition-Waiver-Application.pdf |
Appears on the Financial Aid website |
| VIU-Faculty-Management-Financial-Money-Matters.pdf |
Appears on the Faculty of Management website, financial page |
Replacing Files
Please see Add or Replace Media.