Why I crush your creative dreams
"Can I still make this text blue?"
During the Web Progamme of work to move thousands and thousands of university web pages from one CMS to the new one, I talked to lots of people, and many of the editors who looked after the old website.
In particular, they had lots of questions about what the new CMS would be like; how different would it be from the one they were used to; how easy would it be to use? Could they do all the things in the new one they could do in the old? There was one question that has stuck in my head since it was asked nearly two years ago was from an Editor who wanted to make sure she could still make her text the colour she fancied.
As someone who has been working with various content management systems since 1996, I can tell you some version of this complaint has been a constant for nearly three decades.
The technology of managing large complex sites has evolved dramatically—from basic HTML editors to today’s sophisticated enterprise CMS platforms—yet this particular frustration persists among a subset of web content editors. They just don’t think it looks nice – you know, the way that the senior leaders signed off on, the way the budget holders agreed on, the way that web specialists with years of experience and knowledge designed it. Can’t we have some other colour? I know it’s our brand colour but can’t we have a different colour? Black text on a white background is so boring. Carousels? How can I promote my opinion pieces without a carousel??
What this subset of editors fail to grasp year on year is a fundamental truth: it's not your website!
Like all large, complex, expensive websites, one for a university isn't a collection of personal pages; sure your particular department gets one but that doesn’t mean you also get all the creative license you seem to believe you need to make it successful. This website is an institutional platform representing the entire organisation, serving multiple critical functions—from student recruitment to academic resource management to alumni engagemen. Its effectiveness depends on consistency, accessibility, and adherence to brand standards that transcend individual preferences.
Because these sites are complicated. Very, very complicated, and complex. Ask any student who has had to find information to decide what to study, to locate entry requirements, to enrol, to graduate! they’ll all tell you that information on these large, complex websites, can be hard to find.
Now imagine if every creative bone got to exercise it’s idea of a good time.
That, my dear, is exactly why we replaced the LAST website!!
Crayon ban
Our CMS restrictions such as removing your access to the HTML aren't arbitrary acts of digital tyranny. They serve specific, important purposes:
Brand consistency: desire for blue text might seem harmless, but multiply that by 200 departments, and suddenly our university looks like a disjointed mess rather than a cohesive institution.
Accessibility: that particular shade of blue you want? It likely doesn't meet accessibility contrast standards. We restrict colour options to ensure all visitors, including those with visual impairments, can access our content.
Maintenance efficiency: every custom element requires maintenance. When templates change or we redesign, each customisation becomes a special case that needs individual attention.
Mobile responsiveness: fancy formatting tricks often break on mobile devices, where over 60% of our visitors view our content.
Future-proofing: Standardised content adapts more easily to future technology changes and platform migrations.
The big picture
When you request blue text for your department’s content, you're actually asking for:
An exception to university brand guidelines
Potentially inaccessible content that could violate legal requirements
A maintenance burden for the web team
A precedent that other departments will inevitably cite when requesting their own exceptions
The reality is that content—what you say—matters far more than how it looks. Our templates were designed to present the university’s valuable web content in the most effective, accessible, and brand-consistent way possible. For students. For their families. For academics and researchers. For alumni. For media.
Did you notice your name on that list? No, no you did not.
Constraints aren't the boundaries of creativity, but the foundation of it.
Brandon Rodriguez
If you genuinely need to highlight something in a different way, our CMS offers approved methods:
Subheadings
Block and pull quotes
Bold text (please for the love of all that is holy, use it sparingly)
Message boxes (for specific content types)
These elements have been designed to provide emphasis while maintaining consistency and accessibility. And if your content is truly special and different, and needs special and different treatment, come and chat with me and the Web Team. We have, between us, hundreds of years of experience; we’ve seen things. We know things. We would love to talk to you about your content and how to make the most of it on the web.
And it’s never to make it a different colour.
The call is coming from inside the house!
The ultimate goal isn't to restrict your creativity, but to ensure the university website serves its purpose effectively. Your work uploading, editing and manage the content you know best, contributes to a larger ecosystem that needs consistency to function.
So the next time you feel the urge to ask why you can't make your text blue, remember: it's because you're part of something bigger than your individual page—it’s not your website, but we can’t do it without you caring about the work you do on the website. We need your specific, expert knowledge of the area of content you are responsible for, and you need our specific, expert knowledge of the platform, the web, and how all that stuff works.
And that's actually a good thing.
Because together, we can make a better website for the people who need to use it to enrol in the study that is going to change their rest of their lives.
