How to create an accessible online html publication in SDP
- Jess Pietsch (Unlicensed)
- Marcella Marino
- Emma Cameron
- Jo Tayler
Find features of the publication template, including how to build review and publish a publication.
Please note:
Items in this guide marked with an *asterisk are mandatory.
An ISBN is not required for HTML publications according to the Victorian Government Library Service.
On this page:
About the publication content type
The publication features:
chapters/sections as subpages that are easy to navigate
pagination between sections
the option to print pages
automatic menu creation that lists child pages.
Recent examples include:
Build a publication landing page
There are 2 ways to create a publication landing page:
From the Dashboard, select Add content, then choose Publication from the next page.
Go to the Content tab, select Add content, then Publication.
Publication details
License Type
Select from Copyright (if the publication cannot be shared or used in other work) or Creative Commons (if the publication can be shared or used in other work).
Date of publication
Date the publication was released (it only displays month and year on live page).
Publication author
Department or branch that owns the publication. You can only select one author.
Header*
Title*
Title of your publication.
Summary*
This is a short description of the publication and is picked up within search engines.
Introduction text
Brief summary that appears under the page title. Keep it short.
Featured image
Feature images don't display on the page you're creating. They display on featured cards or navigation links to the page. For more information, visit: image ratios, sizes and component use.
Page content*
When Add Component is selected, you have the following options:
Default appearance
Display the publication title and introduction text.
Customised Header*
Header style*
Default appearance: displays the publication title and introduction text.
Full-width background image: display a hero image as well as the publication title and introduction text. Follow our hero image instructions.
Sidebar*
Documents
Add the original document to this publication. Format is PDF document. This will sits on the right hand side of the page.
Publication Navigation
Add publication navigation to your page. This will sits on the right hand side of the page.
The menu is checked to display by default.
Related links
Related pages can be linked from this sidebar. Check this box if you want to show Related Content for this page.
This is unchecked to display by default.
Contact
Select Add Contact us to include a Title, Name, Department name, Email, Address, Postal address, Phone Title and Phone Number and Social media links.
Topic*
Select a topic term and start typing the term in the field. Select the topic to add it to the field once it’s displayed.
Content category
Select the most relevant option from the list of content categories. This mandatory field will help with search and filtering on the website.
Save your work
Click Save once you're happy with your latest draft.
Add chapters to your publication
Once you've created and saved the publication landing page, the Children tab will display. This means you can start adding child pages (usually chapters) for the publication.
Select the Children tab.
Select Create new Publication page.
Header
Publication/Parent page: should remain as the landing page for your publication.
Title*: chapter title
Summary*: this is the meta description that appears in Google search results. Recommended length <156 characters. Use keywords.
Introduction text: add a brief summary of the page. This displays under the page title.
Page content
When Add Component is selected, you have the following options:
News listing (do not use, being deprecated)
Sidebar
Publication Navigation
Add publication navigation to your page. This will sits on the right hand side of the page.
The menu is checked to display by default.
Related links
Related pages can be linked from this sidebar. Check this box if you want to show Related Content for this page.
This is unchecked to display by default.
Contact
Select Add Contact us to include a Title, Name, Department name, Email, Address, Postal address, Phone Title and Phone Number and Social media links.
Header style* allows you to select between 2 options.
Social sharing
The social sharing box can be hidden in special circumstances. This is checked to display by default.
Save your work
Click Save once you're happy with your latest draft.
Add footnotes, endnotes or references
We follow the Australian Government's Style Manual for footnotes, endnotes or references.
For example, add the number to the sentence in Superscript format where required:
Victoria Police can issue family violence safety notices to a perpetrator to offer immediate protection to a victim survivor and can apply to the Magistrates Court for a family violence intervention order. Victoria Police practice guidance is clear that such notices and orders "must be strictly enforced…and police must lay charges for any contravention".119 It acknowledges that "a lack of attention conveys to the [perpetrator] and the [victim survivor] that the order is not taken seriously" and could risk the family's safety.
At the end of your chapter or content page:
add a Heading 2 titled Footnotes, Endnotes or References
list the entire source content like the below example.
Referencing example
Below is an example of referencing.
The below features an H3 heading. Use an H2 for your publication.
References
115 State of Victoria (2014–2016): Royal Commission into Family Violence: Report and Recommendations, Parl Paper No 132, Vol 3, Chapter 18, p. 28.
116 Unpublished data provided to the Monitor by the Crime Statistics Agency, December 2020.
117 Expert Advisory Committee on Perpetrator Interventions (2019): Expert Advisory Committee on Perpetrator Interventions: Final Report, November 2019.
118 Victorian Council of Social Service, submission 41; Individual — Grampians Community Health, submission 6.
119 Victoria Police (2019): Code of Practice for the Investigation of Family Violence, edition 3, Vol 4, p. 34.
120 Unpublished data provided to the Monitor by the Crime Statistics Agency, December 2020.
Publish your publication
Before you publish, double check the child page order is correct. The order may have gotten mixed up as you added child pages.
Once you're happy with your content:
Change the page status to Needs Review.
Tip
Instead of saving each child page as Needs review you can save time by adding the number of child pages ready for publishing in the revision log message of the Publication landing page.
e.g. ‘Please publish this publication. It contains 10 child pages and 7 grandchild pages.’
Inform us of embargoed or time-critical content in the comments. The publication can be scheduled to go live at a date/time in the future.
Enter comments in the Change request detail field.
Select Save (you can view saved comments in the Revisions tab).
Content is published within 48 hours if it meets publishing best practices.