Web Publishing at UT Tyler

Purpose

The University of Texas at Tyler Web site is accessed by both internal and external markets as well as the general public. The site should serve all these constituencies. The UT Tyler home page is designed with the external market as its primary audience but also as a source of vital information for it's faculty, students and staff. The university Web site should be managed to ensure that information is accurate, pertinent and accessible to users including those with disabilities.

In addition, Texas law requires that every state agency establish a Web site to communicate with the public, post specific information and meet accessibility requirements. The law also requires each agency to establish specific policies, procedures, guidelines and responsibilities for the site.

This policy establishes standards for all university Web pages linked to/from the UT Tyler Web site. It is intended to establish and maintain a coherent appearance for the university, promote a positive image and ensure accountability for information presented in the name of the university. This policy is intended to supplement state law, rules and regulations. Web page developers should refer to the UT Tyler Web site Styleguide and 1 T.A.C. Sec. 206 State Web Sites in the statutes http://www.dir.state.tx.us/standards/S206.htm) (appendix) for additional information on developing Web pages.

The university appreciates the spirit in which the Web was created and currently exists. UT Tyler also recognizes that material created by its component departments, schools, and other official sources represent the university to audiences within the institution and far beyond. A conscious effort has been made by the university to meet regulatory guidelines and compliance, promoting consistency, quality and a cohesive, unifying image for the institution while also assuring individuality. All campus organizational units are encouraged to create pages which reflect their mission, goals and needs, limited only by the minimal requirements established by these policies. Macromedia Contribute is the Content Management System (OR Dreamweaver, if needed) that has been put in place for faculty and staff on the UT Tyler campus.

More information about using Contribute and/or using the UT Tyler templates can be found at the Contribute Tutorial site. For purchasing information, or additional information , please contact the campus Webmaster at #7061 or web@uttyler.edu.

www.uttyler.edu is the official Internet site ("home page") for the university. The home page’s primary objective is to provide an attractive, distinctive, clear and easily navigable point-of-entry to the wealth of information on UT Tyler’s Internet servers, and to set a tone and style for other university pages.

UT Tyler also hosts and maintains www.go2uttyler.com. This is the admissions home page and includes a vast amount of information about UT Tyler along with a large number of links to various parts of the main UT Tyler home page, www.uttyler.edu.

The UT Tyler main home page (www.uttyler.edu) and the Admissions home page (go2uttyler.com) are managed by the Office of News and Information.

II. Publications Policy

The university is reflected in the appearance and content of its Web pages. Therefore, official UT Tyler pages should be prepared with this function in mind. Care should be taken to ensure that information is accurate, up-to-date and consistent with the university mission. Information published on the Internet by officially recognized UT Tyler offices, projects, colleges, schools, institutes, libraries, and programs is considered official UT Tyler information and subject to these policies. Therefore, the current UT Tyler template is to be used in developing a cohesive look for the university. While the header and footer are to remain consistent throughout, the body of the page allows for individuality of the campus unit. Contact the Web Content Coordinator to receive template information.

The Internet exists in the general environment. Portions of it continue to be used to support research and experimentation on networking. Because experimentation on the Internet has the potential to affect all of its components and users, researchers have the responsibility to exercise extreme caution in the conduct of their work. Negligence in the conduct of Internet-wide experiments is both irresponsible and unacceptable.

In the final analysis, the health and well-being of the Internet is the responsibility of its users who must, uniformly, guard against abuses that disrupt the system and threaten its long-term viability.

III. Copyright and Privacy

Information created by a government agency is largely considered to be in the public domain. "Found" graphics or outside information must not be used on Web sites without proper attribution. Copyright laws and university copyright policy must be followed.

Specific Web-based forms that require personal information from a visitor must post a privacy policy or a link to the policy indicating how the information, including information collected in server logs or cookies, will be used and under what conditions the information may be shared or released to another party.

IV. Responsibility

A. The Web Content Coordinator located in the News and Information Department acts as the campus Webmaster to develop university Web pages for the main UT Tyler Web site. The Web Content Coordinator maintains links to organizational unit Web pages in accordance to the UT Tyler policy. The Office of News and Information may refuse to link to Web pages which are not being prepared or maintained in accordance with university policy, UT Tyler Web site guidelines and/or State of Texas guidelines.

B. Requests for a new Web site directory, to publish a new Web site to a current directory or have a link added from the official UT Tyler home page are to be made through the Office of News and Information. Send requests to web@uttyler.edu.

C. Every organizational unit head shall designate an individual(s) to serve as department Web Publisher (unit Webmaster).To ensure continuity, these individuals must be regular (non-student) university employees. The organizational unit head will keep the Web Content Coordinator (campus Webmaster) apprised of the current designees.

ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of the information presented;
offering readers pages that represent professional design and quality presentation;
abiding by UT Tyler’s Web publishing and identity standards, and complying with all IT/IR policies and guidelines, and all applicable State of Texas Web requirements;
regularly updating and keeping published information current;
understanding and complying with copyright, privacy, accessibility, intellectual property and libel laws;
responding in a timely fashion to inquiries and comments directed at one’s published material; and
users must, uniformly, guard against abuses that disrupt the system and threaten its long-term viability, degrade performance, deprive access to a U. T. Tyler resource, or embarrass the university.

V. Submitting a Web page for Approval

The office of News and Information reviews all proposed official Web pages for other external publications prior to final publication to the Web. Interdepartmental publications also may be subject to approval by the Office of News and Publications. The Office of News and Information will check for consistency of UT Tyler Web design style, writing, graphic file size along with required state accessibility guidelines. If editorial and/or design questions arise or if there is a need for more than minimal copy or design revision, the Office of News and Information will consult with the author. Pages are to be submitted to web@uttyler.edu

UT Tyler adheres to current practices of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for HTML. Current practice may be determined by consulting the W3C Web site (http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/).

In conjunction with the News and Information Department, the campus Webmaster, the Vice President of Student Services and External Relations along with the Vice President of Academic Affairs formulates World Wide Web Guidelines to help organizational units create Web pages that are well designed and written. The campus Webmaster may be contacted with questions about page appearance or content and acts as the liason to the News and Information Department and Vice President of Student Services and External Relations. Following are requirements for official policies and procedures for official UT Tyler Web sites. Also, see the UT Tyler Styleguide for specific information regarding design of UT Tyler Web sites and UT Tyler Accessibility Guidelines for information regarding design for people with disabilities.

(1) Load Time. Large file sizes require longer to download. Internet studies show a user will only wait an average of 8-10 seconds for a page to download. With this in mind, all standard practices to minimize each file size loaded with the page should be used. This included graphic optimization for all images. For assistance or additional information on reducing file sizes, contact the campus Webmaster.

(2) Duplication and Unused Files. To facilitate revisions and prevent contradictory information from appearing on the university Web site, unit Webmasters should link to needed information already on the university Web site rather than duplicating the information on their own sites. Copying and use of photos from any UT Tyler Web site and used on your own site is not allowed. To request a UT Tyler image, contact the Office of News and Information.

In addition to duplication policies, it is important to keep directories clean of any unused files. Files that are no longer in use should be deleted from the directory it is located in. This should be done carefully so that any files in use are not deleted, causing broken images, pages, etc. If assistance is needed in cleaning a directory, contact the campus Webmaster.

(3) Identification. Each Web site's association with The University of Texas at Tyler must be clearly identified. The name of the organizational unit should be on every page it creates. The Unit Webmasters (or department Web developer) e-mail address should be displayed on the unit's main page. To preserve anonymity, generic e-mail addresses may be used. The UT Tyler main Web site address must be displayed on the unit's main page. The campus Webmaster's e-mail address should be included on the unit's main page (web@uttyler.edu). The UT Tyler logo should be included on the main page with a graphic link back to the UT Tyler home page. A text link back the UT Tyler home page is required. See the UT Tyler Logo Guidelines for specific information on logo use.

(4) Required page links. Explicit links must be provided on each page back to the home page for that document which must in turn include an explicit link back to the sponsoring department or unit. Each department or unit home page must also include an explicit link back to the UT Tyler home page. Documents should be designed to minimize users' reliance on navigational aids in browsers.

(5) Broken/Dead Links. Broken or dead links occur as pages are modified, moved, or deleted over time. If pages are maintained according to this policy, there should be no links on pages that produce error messages or otherwise do not work. Department Web developers should check frequently for broken or dead links on their pages. The campus Webmaster will inform the department Web developer of broken links on unit sites. Departments are to correct broken/dead links within 24 business hours.

(6) Page dates. Each unit home page should be dated to reflect the latest update to the page.

(7) Under construction. Under construction messages or image signs should not be used. See UT Tyler Styleguide for further information.

(8) Names. Files, folders, and images are not to have spaces in the name. Spaces are often overlooked when users type URLs. Moreover, spaces in links occasionally do not work. For assistance in converting directories or files to this rule, contact the Web Content Coordinator.

(9) Front page designation. To insure that links are not broken from the UT Tyler main site, all departmental home pages must be named "index.htm" or "index.html". To prevent broken links, departmental URLs (Web page addresses) should not change. If a change is necessary, it is recommended that the former site temporarily forward to the new site. Contact the Web Content Coordinator for assistance.

(10) Template. The official UT Tyler template is required to be used on all Department level, College level and Administrative level Web sites. (Faculty may use the template for faculty home pages at their own discretion). To receive a copy of the current template, contact the Web Content Coordinator for assistance.

(11) Logo. The UT Tyler logo is a marketing symbol meant to convey, at a glance, that the page is a representation of The University of Texas at Tyler. The logo is built into the UT Tyler template.

Other logo usage: The logo must always be a graphical link leading back to the main UT Tyler home page (http://www.uttyler.edu), and should be a stand-alone logo. There should be a text link with the same destination elsewhere on the page. The logo must also include the <alt> tag "The University of Texas at Tyler Home Page ". Refer to Logo Usage guide.

(12) Seal. The UT Tyler seal is an official, trademarked symbol of The University of Texas at Tyler. The seal is reserved for academic use only by the Office of the President. Other uses MUST be approved by the Office of News and Information at 703-566-7170. Refer to Logo Usage guide.

(13) Screen Resolution. Current statistics show the majority of Web site visitors are using computers with resolutions of 1024x768. Many visitors still use the standard 800x600 screen resolution. With this in mind, it is recommended that UT Tyler pages are designed to fit various screen sizes, miminum of 800x600.

(14) Coordination. Implementers of WWW pages throughout UT Tyler should coordinate with the campus Webmaster to ensure proper approval and linkage when substantial changes are made to existing sites. Individual Webmasters from each department should be included on the email list and online Webmaster list used by the campus Webmaster.

VII. Accessibility

State law requires all state pages to be accessible to persons with disabilities. Following are general rules that all official UT Tyler Web pages must comply to. (The required accessibility guidelines set forth by the university can be seen at The University of Texas at Tyler Accessibility Guidelines.)

(1) Text files must be available for sound files containing substantive spoken content. All sound files must have appropriate alt tags.

(2) Alt Tags. Images and other visual files must include an ALT tag and appropriate text. ALT tag for every image must include sufficient information describing the image, or null for simple images (e.g. a dot or bullet), so that a person unable to see the image can understand the content and meaning of its use. Except for geographic information systems, if image maps are used that do not comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines for persons with visual impairments, a text alternative shall be provided.

(5) Privacy Policy. All key points of entry and Web-based forms must include a link to the UT Tyler privacy policy.