SBSD Internet Web Publishing Guidelines

Adopted by the District Technology Committee, 1/21/99

Key Guidelines:

1. All web pages must be related to the District’s educational mission. Personal web pages unrelated to the educational mission should be published on non-District web servers.

Brief Rationale: Pages on the District’s web servers represent the District’s schools. There are numerous options for publishing personal pages on non-District web servers.

2. Each page that is published on the District’s Internet web servers must have a staff "advisor." This person’s name and email address, and the date the page was last updated, must appear at the bottom of the page as part of a message such as:

Concerns, questions, or suggestions?
Please contact John Doe, JDoe@sbschools.net
Last updated: 3/1/03

Brief Rationale: The "advisor" would be responsible for ensuring that the page meets the standards for District web pages (see below).

3. Students must get approval from their faculty advisor before publishing a web page on an Internet server and before making significant changes to a page. Minor changes, such as spelling corrections, can be made without the faculty advisor’s approval, but the student needs to ensure that s/he adheres to the standards.

Brief Rationale: We want to try to strike a balance between an overly bureaucratic system and a system that ensures that all pages are up to District standards.

4. The District’s Web Publishing Advisory Board is charged with the responsibility of ensuring the quality of the primary District web pages, both in terms of contents and appearance.

Brief Rationale: The "top level" pages are those that are probably most seen by visitors to the District’s web sites. Some concerns have been raised that these pages should be especially high quality—aesthetically pleasing, easy to navigate, etc. We hope that the advisory board will have members with strengths in web publishing techniques, communication, aesthetics/design, etc. The advisory board will also serve as resource people to help others design their web sites.

5. Schools and District Offices are responsible for their own web sites and for ensuring that their pages meet the District standards.
    
6. All students must have a signed "Student Privacy Form" before any of their work is published on the web.  See the DRAFT "Guidelines for Publishing Student Information on District Internet and Intranet Web Pages" for more information.

Standards for SBSD Internet Web Pages:

• All page elements must function properly in the current versions of both Netscape and Internet Explorer. This includes links, graphics, and any more advanced elements.
• If a page requires special settings or plug-ins to be viewed properly, there must be a warning/explanation on the page.
• Page content must be appropriate for the K-12 educational community and related to the District’s educational mission.
• All pages must be checked for proper spelling and grammar.
• Pages must be clearly written.
• Pages must contain adequate navigation elements—e.g., links to and from other appropriate pages.
• Each page must have the email address of the page "advisor" and the date last updated listed at the bottom of the page.
• No personal (home) mailing addresses or phone numbers may appear on District web pages.
• Permission to use any non-original material must be obtained from the author or rights owner.
• Any non-original work must be credited to the author in accordance with the MLA stylesheet. (Images can be credited in the "Alt" text.)
• Computer programs can be used only with the permission of the web site administrator.
• District web pages must not be used to engage in any unauthorized commercial activity.
• Web page authors should consider page download time and aesthetics in the design of their pages.

To the Information Technology Education Home Page

To the SBSD Teacher Resource Page

Problems or Concerns?  Email Steve Webster
Last updated 02/13/07