which are recommended but not mandatory

In academia that essentially means, "Ignore these guidelines." Universities are horrible when it comes to a consistent experience for the user. Each department wants to do their own thing. Exploring a university can be like visiting 100+ different web sites, each with their own look, navigation, etc.

I work at a large Community College and Jack is exactly right. Communicating consistency to individual departments is not so bad, but coordinating the look of 100+ websites across an entire college or university is near impossible without centralized quality assurance that requires elements, not just recommends them.

Based on what I've seen, and what I've heard from some university administrators I know, trying to induce tenured academicians to adhere consistently to just about any institution-wide guidelines can be like herding cats. Given the deliberate immunity to most traditional forms of accountability inherent in the tenure system, and the deeply-ingrained spirit of academic freedom and individuality among the academic community, you really can't "require" these folks to do anything. Not that I'm necessarily opposed to these things...

If academicians aren't willing to follow guidelines, and if we can't force them into it, what can be done? Suggestions?