7540.02 - WEB-PAGE SPECIFICATIONS

Upper Arlington City School District

Administrative Guidelines

7540.02 - WEB-PAGE SPECIFICATIONS

The purpose of the District web pages is to enhance instruction and provide the students and community with information about the District and the schools. Employees and other interested parties, with the approval of the appropriate administrator, may construct and post web pages on the District’s network servers.

Creators of web pages must adhere to the following procedures and responsibilities. Failure to do so may result in the loss of authoring privileges or other more stringent disciplinary measures according to the applicable collective bargaining agreement and/or Board policy. Given the rapid change in technology, these guidelines are subject to change at any time.

General Guidelines

	A.	The District will maintain a web server and may post web pages that affiliate schools, activities, and employees with the District. All documents and web pages posted on the District’s network must conform to the District’s Acceptable Use Policies and Guidelines. Copies of these documents are available in all school offices, the Board offices, and on the Network. Persons developing or maintaining web pages or documents are responsible for complying with these and other policies.
	B.	Unofficial school, activity, or employee web pages stored on servers outside the District that are linked to the District’s servers or web pages or to which students or the general public may be directed for homework assignments, work assignments or other school activity or District information must display prominently the following disclaimer:
		This site is not sponsored by the Upper Arlington City School District. Furthermore, the views and opinions on this web site are not necessarily those of the Upper Arlington City School District.

	C.	When providing a link from the District’s web page to any web page outside of the District’s control, the following disclaimer must be used:
		Throughout the Upper Arlington City School District’s web site are links to external sites. These external sites contain information created and maintained by other public and private organizations and are provided for the user’s convenience. The District does not control nor can it guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, completeness, or appropriateness of this information. The information or opinions contained on external links do not necessarily represent the views of the Upper Arlington City School District.
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	D.	Individuals may post their own web pages on servers of their choice, but these may not affiliate with the District in any way or imply District responsibility or endorsement for such pages.
	E.	Copyrighted materials outside of the scope of fair use may not be published without obtaining prior written permission from the copyright holder.

Content

By creating a web page, the creator of the page accepts responsibility for its content.

Subject Matter:

		1.	All subject matter on web pages must relate to curriculum, instruction, school-authorized or affiliated activities, or general information about the departments, the schools, or the District.
		2.	All web pages must be well-written, spell-checked and organized. The web pates may have links to appropriate educational or curriculum-related material.
		3.	Documents may not contain objectionable material or link directly to objectionable material. Objectionable material is defined as material that does not meet the standards for instructional resources or which would be in violation of the District’s Acceptable Use Policy.
		4.	Web pages may not be linked to personal home pages of employees, students, or other individuals. Web creators who link employees, students, or other individuals. Web creators who link pages to the District web page and include links to other sites must periodically check those links to ensure the links are still active and still meet the educational standards outlined in these guidelines.
		5.	All proposed web pages or alterations to existing web pages must be approved by the appropriate building principal, department chair, and/or designated Webmaster. This individual’s decision on the appropriate content and links shall be final. The District reserves the right to delete or modify any links or web page content that exists on its server at any time and without notice.

Confidential Information Safeguards:

		1.	Any e-mail addresses that are listed on a web page shall be restricted to District employees only or to general or generic e-mail addresses (such as "webmaster" or "info" or "help") where arriving e-mail is forwarded to a District employee.
		2.	With the employee’s authorization, web pages may include an employee’s name, photo, department, certification, educational background, professional awards or recognition, professional publications, school sponsorships, and e-mail addresses.
		3.	Web pages shall not include a student’s last name, e-mail address, phone number, mailing address, names of other family members, names of friends, or other personally identifiable information.
		4.	A student’s work or a photograph or video that identifies the student may not be published unless the student’s parent/guardian (or the student, if over the age of 18) has signed a written authorization permitting publication.

Format

All web pages hosted by the District shall comply with the following standards:

	A.	Each web page shall have an instance of "Upper Arlington City School District" (trademarked text or trademarked District logo) and the department or school name displayed on the page.
	B.	At the bottom of the web page, there must be a name and e-mail contact of the person responsible for the web page, most likely the building webmaster.
	C.	Web pages must have a clearly defined navigation system that includes links to the school and/or department home page and to the District home page.
	D.	All web sites must be "508 compliant"; i.e., in accordance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (1998); web sites must be designed to be accessible by individuals with disabilities who may use a screen reader or other tools to access the web page. Use alt tags to ensure compliance. For additional information on 508, visit http://www.section508.gov/ Click on "Start here with answers to your basic questions."
	E.	All files used on web pages must conform to copyright regulations.
	F.	All web sties must be designed to accommodate individuals who use different software, different browsers, or slow Internet connections. For example:

		1.	Graphic, video, and audio files should be of a reasonable size so as not to impede the downloading of the web page.
		2.	Color schemes or graphic or patterned backgrounds should not make text difficult to read. Pages should have consistent backgrounds, color schemes, fonts, and such.
		3.	Flashing materials or marquee banners should be used sparingly.
		4.	All files used on web pages must conform to formats conducive to effective Internet use; for example: graphic files (40 – 100K), sound and multimedia files (Flash animation and MPEG audio and video standards).

	G.	Web pages must conform to current Internet coding standards. Each page created must be tested in at least two (2) Internet browsers to ensure accuracy.
	H.	Each page requires a Title tag with a unique title that describes the page.
	I.	All meta-tags associated with any page must accurately describe the page and not include improper references to copyrighted or trademarked material (if the copyright or trademark is not owned by the web page operator) or other misleading material designed to increase traffic to the page (or for any other reason).
	J.	Downloadable files (e.g.: Flash animations, audio/video files, PDG documents) must be labeled as such along with their document type. These files must not require the user to download third-party software outside of the following typical software such as Adobe Reader and Macromedia Flash Viewer.

Maintenance

All web page creators must test the pages for accuracy of the links and conformance to these guidelines prior to submitting the web page to the appropriate building principal, department chair, or designated webmaster for posting.

It is the responsibility of the web page creator to keep the materials on the web pages and links current and accurate.

How to Publish a Web Page

	A.	Design web pages in conformance with these guidelines.
	B.	Test your web page(s) with at least two (2) different browsers to make sure the color scheme, pictures, and formatting work on different systems. Also test your web page for accessibility for a user with disabilities: using a text only browser or a reader, would someone be able to easily display and navigate your web page?
	C.	Review the web pages to ensure that they conform with these guidelines and relevant Board policies, which are locate din each building’s administrative offices.
	D.	Provide both an electronic and a paper copy of the web pages to the Webmaster. The creator should list which pages in the District’s web site that the creator would like to have link to the creator’s web pages. Such links must be approved by the Webmaster.
	E.	All proposed web pages or changes to existing web pages must be approved by the appropriate building principal, department chair, or designated Webmaster. This individual’s decision on the appropriate content and links shall be final. The Webmaster will review the pages and then may publish them to the web site. S/He will then notify the creator of the pages that the web pages have been published.
	F.	As soon as web pages are published the creator should visit the pages to ensure they are operating as designed. Creators should visit the pages periodically to insure they are operating appropriately.

Ownership and Retention

All web pages on District servers are the property of the District. The District reserves the right to delete or modify any links or web page content that exists on its servers at any time and without notice.

This disclaimer must appear on at least the home pages of the District and building web sites:

Throughout the District’s web site are links to external sites. These external sites contain information created and maintained by other public and private organizations and are provided for the user’s convenience. The District does not control nor can it guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, completeness, or appropriateness of this information. The information or opinions contained on external links do not necessarily represent the views of the Upper Arlington City School District.

See Form 7540.02 F1.