MarCom Studio

The lifecycle of a UTSA website will follow different stages from initial website request, development, launch and ongoing maintenance to eventual retirement and archival.

To ensure UTSA's sites are user-oriented, current, consistent, brand-aligned, secure, accessible and compliant with university website policies, all official websites will undergo an annual review process.

Websites unable to follow regular security and maintenance processes or meet annual review requirements will be subject to archival and removal.

Lifecycle Stages

Creation Request - Requests for new websites will be managed and routed through the Website Steering Committee and appropriate web staff. Required information on site ownership and management details will be collected.

Development & Launch - Development of a website includes strategy and content development, design, development (coding), content population (or migration), review, testing and site management end user training by web staff.

Maintenance & Security - Websites utilizing university supported platforms may coordinate with University Marketing's Web Team—in tandem with their Vice Presidential Area Web Lead—for required security and maintenance processes. For websites deployed on non-supported Content Management System (CMS) platforms, Site Owners will bear responsibility for any security or maintenance updates. Maintenance and security tasks may include technology stack maintenance, content maintenance, user interface/design revisions and updates/fixes to any accessibility errors.

Annual Review - Annual content, functionality and compliance reviews include any updates to required information on site ownership and management. Included in this process is a review of compliance with UTSA’s relevant website HOP policies (HOP 11.11 and 11.12). In addition, any redirect rules in place for the site will be reviewed to see if they can be retired. Site Owners unable to complete the annual review process may experience a delay in site validation and their sites may be subject to website archival and removal.

For sites utilizing the university's preferred CMS platforms, the University Marketing's Web Team will provide timely reports on user access control lists, sitemap and file itemization, end user analytics dashboards and accessibility reports for site owners to complete and validate reviews.

Archival - UTSA utilizes existing standards and best practices when archiving a website for removal or historical cataloging. For public facing websites, UTSA Libraries performs bi-annual archival key UTSA.EDU domains and sites. If more frequent website snapshots are needed, Site Owners are encouraged to create a custom schedule with UTSA Libraries archival staff.