What to include on an academic conference website: a practical checklist

An academic conference website has to serve several audiences at once: authors deciding whether to submit, reviewers and committee members, delegates planning travel, and sponsors checking the event is credible. Missing information creates emails to the organisers at the worst possible time. This checklist covers what to publish and when.

1. Before the call for papers

• Conference name, edition and year in the page title and main heading, so people searching for the event find the current edition.
• Dates and location, including the host city and venue, or a clear statement that the event is online or hybrid.
• Organisers and sponsors, with the sponsoring society's branding applied according to its current guidelines.
• A contact address that is monitored, ideally a role address rather than a personal one.

2. The call for papers

• Scope and topics, listed clearly so authors can judge fit quickly.
• Important dates in a single table: submission, notification, camera-ready and registration deadlines. State the time zone; many academic conferences use Anywhere on Earth (AoE).
• Author guidelines: page limits, formatting, the required paper template and the review model (for example single-blind or double-blind).
• A direct link to the submission system, such as EasyChair, EDAS, Microsoft CMT or OpenReview, with a note on how to create an account.
• Publication details: where accepted papers will be published and any presentation requirement for inclusion.

3. Committees and speakers

• Organising and technical programme committees with names and affiliations.
• Keynote and invited speakers with a short biography, photo and talk title once confirmed.
• Track or session chairs if the conference has multiple tracks.

4. Programme and schedule

• A day-by-day schedule with session times, rooms and paper titles, updated as changes happen.
• Time zone information for online attendees.
• A printable or downloadable version for delegates on the day.

5. Registration, venue and travel

• Registration categories, fees, what is included and the cancellation policy.
• Venue address, map, accessibility information and transport options.
• Accommodation suggestions and any group booking codes.
• Visa invitation letter instructions for international delegates, with enough lead time.

6. Policies and accessibility

• A code of conduct and how to report concerns.
• A privacy notice covering registration and submission data.
• Accessible design: readable contrast, keyboard navigation and accessible PDFs where possible.

7. Technical essentials

• Speed and reliability around deadlines. Traffic spikes in the days before submission closes. Lightweight pages and reliable hosting matter.
• A fast update workflow. Deadline extensions and programme changes should take minutes to publish, not days.
• Search visibility. Use the conference name and year in titles, and consider schema.org Event markup with dates and location.
• Security and backups. HTTPS, updated software and regular backups.

8. After the event

• Keep the site online as an archive with the final programme, photos and links to proceedings.
• Link past editions from the next edition's site. A growing archive builds credibility and search authority year after year.