Digital Signage Guidelines and FAQ

Guidelines for Submitting Digital Signage Content

• Content can be submitted by an Oberlin student, faculty, or staff member on behalf of official organizations, offices, or departments. Content may also be submitted to the Office of Communications by the city of Oberlin if it pertains to events or news relevant to the campus community.
• Content should be related to a campus event or a call to action such as academic deadlines, Winter Term registration, etc.
• Events and call-to-action items are eligible for display panel slides only after they are submitted to the Oberlin Events Calendar. Complete this form to submit your event to the Oberlin calendar. 
• Requests for slides must be received a minimum of seven business days prior to the requested posting date. (This allows for time to design slides.)
• Requests should include the following when applicable: event title, name of individual speaker, date, time, location, and information about pricing and advance registration. 
• Slides must be designed using Oberlin’s institutional Canva suite or other approved software and in accordance with campus design guidelines (see best practices and resource links below).
• Slide submissions must include the name of the submitting office, department, or student organization. 
• Completed slides submitted for approval must adhere to all specification requirements regarding dimensions, file type, and appropriate branding (where applicable); all slides must be designed to be 3840 pixels wide by 2160 pixels tall.
• In most instances, slides will be displayed for a maximum of seven days, excluding month-long celebrations and announcements pertaining to public health and safety. 
  • If an event has a sign-up or registration deadline, please use that date in the request form. If the sign-up deadline has already passed, we cannot include it.
• Content must be free of offensive language and images. 
• All submissions may be edited for content and clarity. 
• All content decisions are made by the Office of Communications.

Authorized Content Managers 

A select number of campus display panels are curated by authorized content managers representing various departments or offices. These display panels may present a hybrid of standard schedule content and department- or program-specific content.

The following guidelines pertain to the role of authorized content managers:

• Authorized content managers must be trained by the Office of Communications on Rise Vision, the web-based platform used to manage display panel content and schedules. 
• Display panels managed by authorized content managers must also include the standard schedule unless otherwise approved by the Office of Communications. 
• Content must be saved in a department’s/office’s labeled folder in Rise Vision storage. 

Please consult with the Office of Communications with questions regarding acceptable use issues not specifically addressed in these guidelines.

Storytelling Content

“Storytelling” content refers to all content on campus display panels that is not part of the standard schedule maintained by the Office of Communications. Generally, this refers to content that is managed by an office or department in the vicinity of a given display panel. It may consist of departmental information, alumni success stories, faculty/staff/student achievements, and other similar messages.

Permission to share storytelling content on departmental or office-managed display panels must be obtained by the Office of Communications, and all subsequent storytelling content must be similarly approved by Communications prior to use.

Guidelines for storytelling content:

• All storytelling content must advance the institutional mission.
• Storytelling content should follow display panel best practices for design (see below).
• Storytelling slides created by authorized content managers will not appear in the standard schedule, but can be made available to share on other office-managed displays. 
• Slides with animation and/or video are permitted for use on office-managed displays and displays designated for sharing storytelling content.

Best Practices 

Keep the following guidelines in mind to help your slides have maximum impact.

Essential Elements

• Design each slide to be 3840 pixels wide by 2160 pixels tall.
• Include only the most vital details: Who, what, where, when, and a call to action. 
• Images must be of sufficiently high quality to display well on 4K display panels. 
• Include the name of the presenting office, department, or organization.

Readability

• Use larger font sizes, as most people will be reading messages from a distance.
• Summarize your intended message using the fewest possible words. 
• If the slide cannot be read within 4-6 seconds, it won’t be read fully.
• Keep in mind: All slides are configured to run for a maximum 10-second duration.
• Keep all text a reasonable distance from the edges of the slide.

Editorial Style and ADA Conformity

• When writing times, use caps without periods for AM/PM and avoid use of “:00” (11 AM, 10:30 PM)
• When writing dates, avoid st, nd, rd, or th (July 8, not July 8th)
• Refrain from using clip-art whenever possible.
• Text and background must have high-contrasting colors for readability. Contact webteam@oberlin.edu for more information on color contrast and visibility standards.

Managing Digital Signage Screens:

• Do not adjust display panel settings without contacting Comms or CIT.
• Only use remotes to power displays on/off.
• Report any issues with screens using a CIT Support Request.

Additional Resources 

• Oberlin Brand Guide 
• Rise Vision Tutorial (for trained Rise Vision users)
• Oberlin College and Conservatory Guide to Editorial Style and Usage