Aggie UX Web Design System

Aggie UX can be used by Texas A&M University employees and vendors to create official Texas A&M websites or applications.

Getting started using Aggie UX

We have created a WordPress theme and Cascade CMS templates with an integrated Aggie UX page builder. With the page builder, you have access to dozens of components you can use as building blocks to create dynamic, engaging pages — all without having to know any code.

For those who want to use Aggie UX outside of these themes, you can use our HTML, CSS and JavaScript in your own projects. We offer direct, easy access to version-controlled, compiled CSS and JS via our CDN, and you can find the necessary HTML at aggieux.tamu.edu.

Getting started using Aggie UX

Aggie UX development was and continues to be guided by Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. As a public institution of higher education, we are required by law to meet Level AA standards. We use SiteImprove to help identify potential accessibility errors, including Level A, Level AA and WAI-ARIA authoring practices, and accessibility best practices. As new guidelines are published, we continually revisit our codebase to ensure that we meet these standards by both manual review and SiteImprove scans.

If you discover an accessibility issue with Aggie UX, please email us at web@tamu.edu and we will investigate the issue.

Learn more about web accessibility

Aggie UX pulls colors, fonts, unit identities and visual style from the brand guide to create a polished, consistent experience across websites. Because our design system shares assets of the Texas A&M brand guide, when a user is directed to a website from a branded brochure or digital sign, there will be a consistent experience between media.

In some instances, colors and fonts may differ from those established in the brand guide. These deviations are strictly for use within the Aggie UX framework and should not be extended for use in print or digital materials such as brochures, emails or social media graphics.

Learn more about branding and Aggie UX

Aggie UX provides a few customization options at the component level to make the design system as flexible as possible.

Styles can be applied at the component level, meaning a website can mix and match styles. Each website will have the default style available, and can choose to additionally use either bold or elegant. These predefined styles ensure all websites are brand compliant while providing ways to give individual sites their own personality and ways to emphasize different pieces of content.

Background options can also be used to introduce visual variety within a webpage or website.

Think of components as Lego pieces in a Lego set. Some pieces are more generic (like a basic brick), while others have very specific uses (like a wheel). Lego pieces can be combined in hundreds of different ways to make unique creations.

In the same way, components can be combined together to create visually interesting layouts for webpages. Aggie UX has dozens of different components, some for very specialized purposes (like displaying question and answer pairs) and some that are more flexible.

Learn more about Aggie UX terminology

Using a web design system saves you time and money because you don’t have to “reinvent the wheel” on each website. Instead of starting from scratch on each project, you are able to focus on the unique needs for a given website and use your resources to address those issues.

Additionally, a web design system for the university improves the user experience of people navigating between Texas A&M websites. The consistent use of branding and familiar navigation patterns make it easier for users to recognize sites using Aggie UX as official Texas A&M websites and use them efficiently.