Website Development Policies 

  Web Site Development Policy Information

  • The WACUHO Webmaster has overall responsibility for all pages maintained on the WACUHO Web server. WACUHO may act in support of this acceptable use policy by recommending the modification or removal of pages from non-WACUHO Web servers.

  • Member(s)/committee(s) may not operate backdoor servers. The Web page/site author is responsible for content of individual official or personal pages posted and maintained on WACUHO servers.

  • Page content and messages must conform to state, federal laws, and to Association policies.

  • Member(s)/committee(s) supported by Web pages must be WACUHO related.

  • Pages for a WACUHO member(s)/committee(s) must be pre-approved by the Executive Liaison of their committee.

  • Each official page must be designated in accordance with the official WACUHO style guide, acknowledge its relationship to WACUHO, link to the WACUHO home page, and carry WACUHO copyright, logo, and other notices.

  • The web site is an open public document available to anyone located anywhere in the world. Those who place information on the site must realize the responsibilities when publishing information through electronic means.

  • Content of all pages on the web site should reflect the mission, interest, and standards of the WACUHO organization. Pages must be worthy of publication, and may not contain any legally or ethically questionable material.

  • Web site designers must have written permission of the creator to print any information in the form of graphics, photographs, drawings, video clips, or sound clips on an electronic page.

  • Anything that can be interpreted as harassing, lewd, abusive or threatening will not be published on the WACUHO web site.

  • No one may make available for download any copyrighted software without written permission of the copyright owner.

  • Information on WACUHO web servers will be kept as accurate as possible, however the accuracy of information provided cannot be guaranteed.

  • All parties submitting materials to the WACUHO web site represent and warrant that the submission, installation, copying, distribution, and use of such materials in connection with the WACUHO web site will not violate any other party's proprietary rights.

  • The user understands and agrees that WACUHO is not responsible for any errors created in or damage to materials as a result of the installation or maintenance on WACUHO related web sites, or their use by anyone accessing WACUHO web sites.

  • WACUHO reserves the right to make basic structural adjustment to materials supplied for publishing on the web site.

  • WACUHO reserves the right to make minor typographical corrections to any web page material.

  • At this time, WACUHO does not have a secure server. This includes forms on the WACUHO Web site. In these instances, notice will be given to the user that they are not using a secure server.

Website File Name Specifications:
  • These specifications take into consideration that authors, editors, and publishers may be working on different platforms. The specifications help ensure that there are no problems with differing platforms during the publishing process.

  • Should be 8 characters or less, no spaces or punctuation (except .), all lower case, and unique and descriptive. Examples: africa.htm, elephant.gif, or cbcalend.htm. Should end with the extensions .htm, .gif or .jpg (or .map for image map files and .css for Cascading Style Sheet files)

Web Page and Graphics:
  • Shorter web pages should be considered for:
    • home pages and menu or navigation pages elsewhere in your site
    • documents to be browsed and read on-line
    • pages with very large graphics

  • Large web pages are:
    • easier to maintain (they contain fewer links)
    • similar to the structure of their paper counterparts (not chopped up)
    • much easier for users to download and print

  • Each Web page must contain the following information:
    • A link to WACUHO's Affirmative Action Statement
    • A link to the WACUHO home page
    • Last updated date
    • Author information: name and email addresses
    • Editor's name and email address (if applies)
    • Webmaster's email address (--------)
    • A title that appropriately describes the content of the page
    • Well-edited text including correct spelling and grammar
    • Factually correct information
    • No Web page may contain:
      • Dead end pages
      • Inappropriate material or links to inappropriate material
      • Email addresses of individuals without permission
      • Identifiable pictures without written permission
      • Full names without written permission
      • Any graphics or information that is in violation of copyright laws

Expectations for Web Site Content (Style Guide):
  • Keep pages simple and short. Most web users do not want static information and prefer to navigate through a series of links rather than scroll through a long page.

  • Web services will append standard navigational headers and footers to all hypertext pages included in the WACHUO web site.

  • Web pages should contain links to appropriate parent home pages.

  • Viewers will be using a variety of hardware and browsers with a wide range of color and Netscape enhancement capabilities. Complicated backgrounds, patterns and styles may be unreadable to many people. Consider your motivations in using specialty tools.

  • Link to the top-level page of your web material. Your top-level page must contain a link to the appropriate home page.

  • Longer Web pages should contain a hypertext index and internal links throughout the document to facilitate navigation.

  • Provide a text-only version of your Web site for those who either can't view graphics or who prefer to print out the Web page(s).

  • The layout for a Web site (more than 1 page) should be consistent.

  • Provide a signature block containing contact and copyright information at the bottom of main pages in a Web site.

  • If you have a long Web page, break it into separate HTML pages. The recommended Web page is between a "half a letter size page" and "5 letter-sized pages." Two to three pages are recommended.

  • All image tags shall have the alternate text attribute.

  • Limit graphics for faster loading.

  • Images should have a resolution of approximately 72 dpi (dots per inch).

  • For quickness in loading, images should be a maximum size of about 35kb.

  • If images larger than 35kb are used, thumbnail sketches should be provided.

  • Images used home page backgrounds should be a maximum of 5kb.

  • Use the GIF graphics format for clip art of line graphics. Use the JPEG format for photographs. This will allow compression of graphics to be optimal.

Responsibility for Web Pages:
  • For member(s)/committee(s) creating their own Web page(s) for the association, you are responsible for your content. It is your responsibility to maintain it, update it, design it, and to submit the URL to the Webmaster for review. The Webmaster is available for consultation on any of these issues.

  • Whether the Webmaster or another party places a Web page(s) on a WACUHO site, that member(s)/committee(s) is also responsible for responding to inquiries that are either sent directly via an email link to a designated recipient or via emails that have been forwarded from the Webmaster.

  • To aid you in this process, the Webmaster recommends that each member(s)/ committee(s) which chooses to create their own pages, designate one person (Web Coordinator) responsible for your information. For example, if a user notices incorrect information in a file or has a suggestion for other information that might be useful, the user should be able to directly email the Web Coordinator to suggest a correction or addition.

  • The member(s)/committee(s) may find it more appropriate to have this individual coordinate that committee's electronic publishing effort rather than doing it all him/herself. The designated Web Coordinator should:

  • Coordinate the gathering of information for Internet publication within the group

  • Decide how the information will be organized

  • Decide how often the information is going to change and how often the information will be updated

  • Integrate Internet publishing into the group's publication cycle:

  • Convert information from its current form to the appropriate electronic publishing format

  • Prepare the information for display on the Internet by saving it in the appropriate file type

  • Make certain that all departmental Web pages are in compliance with copyright rules and with WACUHO guidelines and policies

  • Include email links on the member(s)/committee(s) WACUHO pages

  • Notify the Webmaster (----) when member(s)/committee(s) home page is ready for review by sending URL of that page.

  • Verify that the member(s)/committee(s) on-line information is up-to-date

Who Can Create Web Pages:
  • The Executive board and committees of WACUHO Association are encouraged to develop and maintain web pages.

  • All web pages must include a marker indicating when they were last updated and an email address for the person responsible for the pages. Persons responsible for web page, elements, and links to other resources must keep them up to date. WACUHO reserves the right to remove or edit any material that becomes obviously obsolete or misleading.