IT

Specifications

Images

• landscape only
• 3840 x 2160 (4K is standard)
• jpg or png
• we do not accept pdf's or powerpoints

The images you use must not contain any copyright-protected material that you don’t have approval from the rights holder to use.

Video

• 4K (3840 x 2160) is the default - minimum 1920 x 1080 resolution
• 30 - 60 seconds max recommended length
• Audio cannot be played and videos must have captions 
• QuickTime, WMV, MPEG4

Accessibility

Ensuring our digital content is accessible fits with our values, and supports the University’s aims as relating to widening access, civic engagement and inclusivity.

• Digital Accessibility guidance

High Contrast

Use text that has sufficiently high contrast with the background to be legible to those with limited vision. If you need to test the contrast between your text and the background, use WebAIM's Color Contrast Checker as a guide.

Font Sizes

Keep text large enough that your message is legible from a reasonable distance. Not all those seeing your sign will be standing beside it.

Design

Borders

Make sure you have a border around your image content, placing text near the edge of your image means it may not display correctly on screens.

QR Codes - keep QR codes away from the edge of the screen, they may be obscured by other objects on the signage layouts. 

Amount of text

Text should be kept to a minimum. Think 1 to 2 bullet points, not paragraphs. Your image may only be displayed for 10 seconds to an audience who are in transit.

URL's

If you’re promoting an event, then it’s important to ensure your call to action is clear and unambiguous, slides by default are shown for 10 seconds.. If you have to use a URL on your image, it should be as short as possible, avoid including 'http://www'. You can also use a free URL shortening service like bit.ly.

URL examples:

• gla.ac.uk/library
• glasgow.ac.uk/myglasgow

QR Codes

QR Codes should be large enough to be read by a mobile device from a distance. Remember, slides are only show for a default 10 seconds.

Fonts

Make sure the text you use in your image is a sans-serif font, i.e. Arial, Swiss, Calibri, etc. Do not use decorative or serif fonts, i.e. Times New Roman, this will result in text that is hard to read and not accessible for people who may be visually impaired.

Ensure the text is contrasting against any background colour or image used. If there is poor contrast between text and background, your signage will be difficult to read and inaccessible to visually impaired people.

Use of appropriately scaled images

Images should be landscape, do not use vertical or portrait images as these leave borders on either side of the image.

Do not use poor-quality images or stretch smaller images in order for them to fit the dimensions of the screen. This will result in a pixelated image and an incorrect aspect ratio.