The distinction between formal and informal reports comes down to the report audience (i.e. who has access to view the report).
*Reports that are accessible to either campus-wide or public audiences have additional expectations in regards to visual standards and the underlying data used in the report. Authors developing reports for these audiences should be in touch with reportsupport@umd.edu.
| Expectation | Informal process | Formal process |
|---|---|---|
| Follow university visual design standards | Optional | Required |
| Follow accessibility standards | Required |
Required |
| Check report for data accuracy and security | Required | Required |
| Use report testers to QA test the report for formatting, design, and performance | Strongly encouraged | Required |
| Create definitions for data elements and report | Optional | Required |
Campus report templates are created for each data visualization tool the campus offers. The campus template must be utilized for reports that fall under the formal guidelines. Visual standards should be confirmed during the QA process.
Depending on the content of the report, it may be necessary to make alterations to the report template (e.g., changing the report dimensions, filter placement). Report authors should contact reportsupport@umd.edu if they have any questions about formal reports that must deviate from the campus guidelines.
See Tool-specific guidance for information on accessing report templates and style guides.
Whether the report is formal or informal, it is always necessary for Report Authors to follow all accessibility best practices.
The University of Maryland Web Accessibility Policy sets the minimum standards for the accessibility of all university Web pages used to conduct core university business and academic activities to ensure compliance with applicable state and federal regulations, specifically, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Accessibility standards can be confirmed during the QA process.
See Tool-specific guidance for information on accessibility guidelines.
Whether the report is formal or informal, it is always necessary for Report Authors to be confident that all data surfaced is accurate.
If the Report Author is not the data steward for the report's data content, appropriate use of data should be validated by the data steward.
Quality assurance (QA) testing is the process of having someone not involved in report development verify the contents of a report before the report is finalized and shared with its intended audience. Formal reports are required to follow university QA processes. It is strongly recommended that informal reports are QA tested, but the university QA process is not required.
QA testing is done to:
See Tool-specific guidance for links to the university QA procedures.
To ensure that data are interpreted correctly, formal reports must include a report definition and definitions for data elements that are surfaced in the report.
A report definition will describe the intended purpose of a report and provide a brief description of the report content. Data element definitions should be defined by the data steward.
DataDocs is the university tool for entering report and data element definitions.
The Report Author should ensure the appropriate guidelines are followed while developing the report. Before publishing to the production workspace, the Workspace Owner must verify guidelines were followed.
Coming soon.
Coming soon.
Because Report Authors can publish directly to the production project, it is their responsibility to ensure that the appropriate creation and testing procedures are followed. In most cases, permissions are locked to the project and will determine whether formal or informal guidelines are followed.
Campus Template - The campus template is made available on Tableau Server in the Community of Practice - Templates project. Only members of the Community of Practice have access to this project.