World Wide Web Policies & Publishing Guidelines
Table of Contents/Links:
I. Background
& Purpose of WWW Pages
II. Definition
of Official University Pages
III. Definition
of Unofficial University Pages
IV. Web Management
Framework
V. KSU WWW
Publishing Guidelines
1. Guidelines for All WWW Pages
1.1 Preparing to Publish
1.2 Footer Information
1.3 Disclaimers
1.4 Ensuring Accuracy & Currency
1.5 Designing Pages with Browser Compatibility
1.6 Compliance with Copyright & Trademark Laws
1.7 Compliance with Other Federal & State Laws
1.8 Compliance with Kennesaw State University Policies
1.9 No Commercial Use
1.10 Questions
1.11 Noncompliance with These Guidelines2. Additional Guidelines for Official University (Home & Ancillary) Pages
2.1 Web Page Responsibility
2.2 Minimum Design Standards
2.3 Accessibility
2.4 Review3. Additional Guidelines for Unofficial "Courtesy" University Pages
3.1 Approval of Student Organization Web Pages
3.2 Violation of Policies & Guidelines
3.3 Official University Graphics Prohibited on Unofficial Pages
3.4 Disclaimer
I. Background And Purpose of WWW Pages
Kennesaw State University encourages faculty, staff, and students to publish on the World Wide Web within the constraints of existing laws and policies. At KSU, there is a centralized University Web server (www.kennesaw.edu) as well as other servers that support World Wide Web pages. This policy applies to all Web pages with IP addresses of 130.218.*.* or domain names of Kennesaw.Edu on any of these servers or server otherwise associated with Kennesaw State University officially or unofficially as defined in the following sections of the policy.
Development of WWW pages is subject to applicable University policies such as those pertaining to copyright, "fair use," and intellectual property rights; Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act; Federal Computer Abuse Amendment Act; Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act; and other state and federal laws. In order to maintain the privilege to use University computing resources, all Web publishers must adhere to these acts and policies described herein.
II. Definition of Official University Pages
For the purpose of this Policy, "Official University Pages" may represent the University or an organizational unit (i.e., college, department, center, institute, or academic program) of the University.
There are two types of official University pages: Official Home and Official Ancillary. An official home page refers to an organizational unit's first-level or index page. Official ancillary pages are any other pages associated with that home page. For example, department sub-pages that provide supporting information.
Pages created by students or student organizations or by faculty and staff for personal or curricular use, are not considered Official University Pages.
Kennesaw State's WWW site is considered an official publication and external marketing tool, as well as a campus-wide information source. As with printed publications, only approved University information will be communicated on the KSU Home Page and all other Official University pages.
III. Definition of Unofficial "Courtesy" University Pages
As campus resources allow, unofficial or "courtesy" pages may be accommodated within the University's network. For the purpose of this Policy, an "Unofficial University Page" is any page published through the use of any resource belonging to Kennesaw State University, which does not fall into the category of official home pages. These include student organizations pages and personal Web pages created by individual students, faculty, and staff.
The University recognizes the impossibility of reviewing all information published electronically by Kennesaw State University authorized users and, therefore, disclaims any responsibility for the content of unofficial pages. The University does reserve the right to review and investigate any page or pages published with the use of Kennesaw State University resources and enforce these policies with respect to such pages. KSU WWW Publishing Guidelines (Section V) are provided to guide and assist faculty, staff, and students who create an individual page or pages.
IV. Web Management Framework
The Office of University Relations shall oversee the appearance of official University Home pages.The Office of the CIO shall manage the resource and technical issues regarding web accounts, University servers and system configuration. Guidelines for all WWW pages are established by the Office of the CIO in cooperation with the Office of University Relations. All Web pages must comply with these guidelines (Section V: KSU WWW Publishing Guidelines).
V. KSU WWW PUBLISHING GUIDELINES
New Web publishers should preview the information already published on the Kennesaw State University Web site (other than personal home pages) to avoid duplication of information or contradictions with existing publications.
Each home page should include the following components:
- Contact Information - name and e-mail address of the person responsible for maintaining the Web site.
- Last Modified - the date the document was last updated.
All unofficial home pages and links from official pages to unofficial pages must carry the official KSU disclaimer or provide a clearly displayed link to the official University maintained disclaimer page located at http://www.kennesaw.edu/disclaimer.shtml. The disclaimer shall read: "Disclaimer: The material you are attempting to access is not officially licensed or sponsored by Kennesaw State University. Thus, Kennesaw State University hereby disclaims all liability for any data, information, or opinions contained in unofficial Web pages and the home page author bears the sole responsibility for obtaining permission when incorporating copyrighted materials into their Web site. Any comments related to the content of personal Web pages or pages of student organization should be directed to the author of the home page. The official Kennesaw State University home page is located at http://www.kennesaw.edu/."
1.4 Ensuring Accuracy and Currency
Information on all World Wide Web pages must be kept accurate and current. Publishers should check their documents and links regularly to ensure they remain up to date and are functioning properly. (If you have questions or concerns about a Web page, please contact the author of the home page.) If a Publicly accessible Web page is largely unusable (due to poorly written code, non-functioning links, or contains very little or no body copy for the reader) then it should be clearly marked as "Under Construction".
1.5 Designing Pages with Browser Compatibility
Web publishers should test across all major browsers including Netscape, Microsoft Internet Explorer, & Lynx (a text-based browser used by the visually impaired) so pages looks as expected and are usable to Web site visitors.
1.6 Compliance with Copyright & Trademark Laws
Kennesaw State University will observe the copyright law for its Web pages that it does for printed materials. Any use of other copyrighted material and trademarks (i.e. photographs, graphics, video, audio, or text) must have the express written permission of the person or organization that owns the copyright or trademark. Web Authors publishing photographs should obtain written permission of not only the person or organization who owns the copyright, but also from any individuals or persons included in the photograph. The University reserves the right to require proof of such written permission and to remove the material if that proof cannot be produced. Any violation of copyright, trademark, or any other law is the sole responsibility of the publisher(s) of the particular information in question. To learn more about copyright and fair use, please refer to the USG Regents Guide to Understanding Copyright & Fair Use located at http://www.usg.edu/admin/legal/copyright.
1.7 Compliance with Other Federal and State Laws
The content of pages must not violate applicable export laws and regulations; must not constitute a copyright or trademark infringement; and must not otherwise violate any local, state, or federal laws.
1.8 Compliance with Kennesaw State University Policies
All pages must be in compliance with the Computer & Network Usage Policy (which may be obtained at http://www.kennesaw.edu/resources/policy.shtml#CompNet) and with all other applicable Kennesaw State University policies.
No use of Official or Unofficial Kennesaw State University Web pages for profit or commercial purposes (other than official Kennesaw State business) is permitted.
If there are any doubts or questions about these policies, publishers should contact the University Webmaster at webmaster@kennesaw.edu.
1.11 Noncompliance with These Guidelines
It is not the intention of Kennesaw State University to edit, monitor, or censor personal home pages or those of student organizations, but provides guidelines, which the community is responsible for upholding. If a conflict with any Kennesaw State University policy is brought to the attention of the Web administrator, the author will be notified and asked to take appropriate action.
(With permission, these guidelines were modeled after the general publishing guidelines of Harvard's Graduate School of Education.)
2. Additional Guidelines for Official (Home & Ancillary) Pages
The following guidelines are in addition to Section 1 of the KSU WWW Publishing Guidelines. The Office of University Relations in collaboration with the University Webmaster will provide preferred "templates" combining appropriate style, graphics, and icons to be used on official pages so that the institution maintains a visually cohesive image.
Official Web Pages representing an organizational unit must have the approval of the unit head (i.e. college dean, department chair, vice president, director). The unit head shall oversee editorial content, visual design (within the official minimum design standards as described in Section 2.2), and maintenance. Each unit that creates a home page must assign a faculty or staff member to update its page(s) as appropriate.
While it is not the intention of this policy to limit creative expression, official Web design standards have been developed to assure a degree of continuity, maintain a consistent image, and increase usage of information published by Kennesaw State. All Official Home pages must comply with the minimum design standards as listed below:
Color Scheme:
Prominent use of KSU related Web colors as defined in the official Style Guide. The official KSU Gold Web-safe color is #FFCC00. Addition colors included in the Web palette are #990000 (burgandy red) and black."Official KSU Web Site" Graphics:
Prominent use of KSU logo or word mark is required. The preferred placement of logo or word mark is the top left corner of the page, bottom right, or bottom middle. The logo and word mark, in various sizes, may be downloaded from http://www.kennesaw.edu/images/logos. These images are for Web pages only and should not be used for print publications. Additionally, the preferred Web template may be found at http://www.kennesaw.edu/webguide/template.Link Back to KSU Home <http://www.kennesaw.edu>:
Must include a text link back to Kennesaw State University Home page. Use of the logo or word mark is also required as a graphic link back to KSU Home.Footer Information:
Must include contact Information that lists the name and a readily apparent e-mail address of the person responsible for maintaining the Web site. Must also include the date the document was last updated.
Kennesaw State University is committed to providing equal access to the University's Web presence in accordance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. These guidelines, which came into affect June 21, 2001, require that Federal departments and agencies create Web sites and other information technology that is accessible to people with disabilities, such as the blind and the mobility-impaired. Therefore, in order to ensure equal access for all users, all official Kennesaw State University pages will comply with the Priority 1 Guidelines of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, located at http://www.w3c.org/TR/WCAG10. However, be aware that these guidelines may change as new and emerging technologies change the structure and operation of the internet. The most current W3C WAI Guidelines will be adopted as the KSU standard as they are approved. Further information, specific examples, and tools for creating accessible web pages may be found on the W3C's web site at http://www.w3.org/WAI/Resources.
University Relations reserves the right to review Official University web pages for for appropriate content, logo, and design use, and will contact the web author directly when changes are needed. In addition, the University Webmaster will perform random "spot checks" of official home pages to ensure compliance with publishing guidelines. The review shall include, but is not limited to:
- Accurate and current information
- Functional links
- Compliance with minimum design standards
- Accessibility and usability issues
3. Unofficial "Courtesy" University Pages
The following guidelines are in addition to Section 1 of KSU WWW Publishing Guidelines.
3.1 Approval of Student Organization Web Pages
Student Organizations may create Web pages, which must be approved by the Assistant Director of the Student Life Center. These pages must be linked to an appropriate Web page managed by the Student Life Center. The University sponsor of each organization should periodically review the content of the student organization's Web page. Student organization pages are considered "unofficial" pages and will be published on a space available basis.
3.2 Violation of Policies & Guidelines
Any pages discovered in violation of the Policies and Guidelines shall be subject to immediate removal from the Network including but not limited to the possible removal of the individual account from the system.
3.3 Official University Graphics Prohibited on Unofficial Pages
The use of the official University graphics, including logos, seals or other identifying marks is prohibited on unofficial pages.
Student pages and pages of student organizations shall not usually be directly linked to official University Web pages. Individual departments may elect to provide an index of student Web pages if the department page provides a clearly displayed link to the official University maintained disclaimer page located at http://www.kennesaw.edu/disclaimer.shtml as defined in section 1.3 of the Guidelines for All WWW Pages.
4. Resources Through Information Technology Services
Information Technology Services at Kennesaw State University will provide the following resources for electronic publishing via the World Wide Web.
4.1 Information Technology Services will provide the ability for faculty, staff, and students to use their current UNIX accounts to publish pages on the World Wide Web. The content of these pages must comply with the above guidelines and must be contained in each users home directory and comply with current disk quota restrictions.
4.2 Information Technology Services will provide this resource to faculty, staff, and students on a machine, which complies with production level maintenance and security.
4.3 Information Technology Services will provide a machine addressed www.kennesaw.edu on which "Official University Pages" and the main Kennesaw State University Home Page may be placed. The server will provide space on a college, school, or departmental level. This machine will also comply with production level maintenance and security.
4.4 Information Technology Services will provide the above services in order to provide a place for both "Official" and "Unofficial" University Pages. Information Technology Services will provide the WWW server and all functions related to running the server (e.g., Security, Disk Space, etc.). Information Technology Services will not create, modify, nor install said pages on the provided server. This is the responsibility of each individual school, department, unit, or individual. This again is left up to the publisher of the Web Page.
Last Modifed: 14-Jan-2002
Questions or Comments? Email: webmaster@kennesaw.edu