District Web Page Publishing Guidelines (Rev 1.05)

District web page development guidelines will provide consistency, quality, and general direction of school representation to the Internet community. Specifics will vary with local needs. Guidelines will address web page content, overall responsibility, potential contributors, quality, technical standards, student protection, server access, ownership, and responsibility. Standards will be set for ensuring that content and design is worthwhile and useful to others.

District Web Page Guidelines

GOALS

• Disseminate information quickly and accurately.
• Approach new audiences within and beyond school district boundaries.
• Allow interactive communication through e-mail, forms, etc.
• Provide opportunities for students and classes to publish school-work, projects, etc.
• Provide state and students access to curriculum-enhancing educational links.
• Provide community and district information to prospective parents and constituents.
• Provide constantly updated District, Department, and School news in an easy to utilize format.
• Provide all key District, Department, and School information in a single concise website or websites.
• Provide parents with accurate information regarding their children's educational performance in a secure manner.

GUIDELINES

• All pages must follow the Unit 5 Web Publishing Guidelines (this document).
• All pages must reside on the Unit 5 server-http://www.unit5.org. 
• All pages must follow copyright guidelines as found in this document and the District Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).
• All pages will be updated regularly to keep content current and accurate. Outdated pages whose originating author is no longer able to update them will be removed.
• Staff or student personal pages are not allowed on the server or linked from any Unit 5 pages.
• School and Staff pages may not host their work/business related pages on web servers not maintained by Unit 5. 
• Release of personal information or images about students must strictly follow these guidelines at all times on any Unit 5 hosted web page.
• Advertising is prohibited unless approved as a fundraiser by the Board of Education.

TECHNICAL STANDARDS

• Easy to navigate:

  o Information is readily accessible (three (3) clicks rule).

  o Contains easy-to-use toolbars.

  o Differentiate between information pages and navigation pages.

  o Use/create navigation bars and image maps to key section to the web site.

• Mandatory file arrangement/directory structure.
• Maintain format consistency (see Image and Design Guidelines).
• Background, bullets, buttons, fonts, colors, etc.
• Similar logo design.
• File size, including images, must remain within reasonable limits.
• Appropriately titled as related to content.
• File names (URL) are limited to no more than eight (8) characters without spaces or punctuation, when possible. Additionally, they should be logical in nature, being descriptive of the page in general.

A school's web presence represents the school to a potentially greater audience than any other medium. The collection of electronic documents can be an excellent way to provide unique information about the school, staff, and students. A web site must represent the school accurately and fairly.

A web site serves as an introduction to the school. Realizing that parents potentially "shop" for schools by visiting available web sites and comparing services available is one key idea in the creation of both this document and the funding of manpower and resources to meet this documents ends. The websites this document governs can server to make a strong introduction of the district to prospective constituents of the district as well as serve current student's parents with a large amount of valuable information.

School Web Content Requirements

Each school that maintains a web on the Unit District 5 webserver will be held responsible to meet basic minimum content requirements before it will be published to an active webserver. This requirement has been adopted to meet the scope of the Web Technology Implementation Plan for Unit District 5. Additional suggestions are made in individual areas and should be considered when deploying a web page in Unit 5.

The District wishes to maintain the individuality of each school, but with this document instills certain requirements in regards to a basic level of content and structure. This is so that staff, parents, and students will have a useful site that will meet their needs in regards to basic information about the District and it's schools. This document, along with the District Web Publishing Guidelines, will give to the district and all concerned a basic foundation upon which to build and maintain these sites.

Should a school wish to have content concerning any of the areas listed below, the content minimums must be adhered to as appropriate for that institution. Content that goes above the minimums is encouraged as long as it follows the District Web Publishing Guidelines. Content must meet both guidelines at all times in order to remain an active page on the web servers.

School Minimum Requirements:

The content minimums listed below encompass a broad range of categories in areas identified as being of key interest to parents and community members. The list itself is subdivided by school level. Except where noted below, these minimums apply to all persons wishing to add or maintain content on a school web if their content falls within the categories given.

Elementary Schools:

Each elementary school should contain the following information pages:

• School Calendar.
• School Lunch Menu.
• School Emergency Contact Information and General Contact Information.
• School Curriculum guide(s) and/or school handbook.
• Administrative Staff Listing.
• School Newsletter.
• School Policies.
• School history and information, to include the school name, address, date built, school logo and mascot, and any other specific information deemed valuable to the public. (As applicable to each school).
• Mission statement and/or a "Message from the Principal".

Each Teacher site should include the following:

• A list of homework assignments by class (when applicable).
• Special projects, by class (when applicable).
• A brief bio of the teacher and introduction, including contact information.
• A links page (recommended, but not required).
• An activities and images page (recommended, but not required).

Suggestions:

• Teachers are encouraged to create web pages through the school web site.
• Features might include:

  Teacher schedule/conference periods.

  Class identification.

  Class activities/upcoming class events.

  Student projects.

  Useful lessons and projects for teachers and parents.

  Hotlists.

  Description of use of Internet in particular class.

  Student artwork (drawing, painting, photography).

  Student writing (poetry, essays, short stories).

  Homework hotline.

Each School Activity Page should include:

• An introduction to the activity or event.
• A list of involved staff members and teachers.

Each School Fundraising Project Page should include:

• The summary of the goals of the project, including what the money is to be used for.
• A summary of the fundraising activity (ies) for the project (if applicable).
• A contact summary page for the project.
• Information on the fundraising provider or sponsor including links and contact information about that company or group.
• An actual page for the fundraiser, should it be a web based fundraising service.

Middle Schools:

Each middle school website should contain the following information pages:

• School Calendar.
• School Lunch Menu.
• School Emergency Contact Information and General Contact Information.
• School Curriculum guide(s) and/or school handbook.
• Administrative Staff Listing.
• School Newsletter.
• School Policies.
• School history and information, to include the school name, address, date built, school logo and mascot, and any other specific information deemed valuable to the public. (As applicable to each school).
• Mission statement and/or a "Message from the Principal".

Each Teacher site should include the following:

• A list of homework assignments by class (when applicable).
• Special projects, by class (when applicable).
• A brief bio of the teacher and introduction, including contact information.
• A links page (recommended, but not required).
• An activities and images page (recommended, but not required).

Suggestions:

• Teachers are encouraged to create web pages through the school web site.
• Features might include:

  Teacher schedule/conference periods.

  Class identification.

  Class activities/upcoming class events.

  Student projects.

  Useful lessons and projects for teachers and parents.

  Hotlists.

  Description of use of Internet in particular class.

  Student artwork (drawing, painting, photography).

  Student writing (poetry, essays, short stories).

  Homework hotline.

Each School Activity Page should include:

• An introduction to the activity or event.
• A list of involved staff members and teachers.
• A list of participating students, following personal information guidelines.

Each School Group Page should include:

• An introduction to the group.
• A list of involved staff members and teachers.
• Contact information.
• A FAQ.
• A calendar of events scheduled.
• A list of participating students, following personal information guidelines.

Each School Organization Page should include:

• An introduction to the Organization
• A list of involved staff members, teachers, and parents.
• Contact information.
• A FAQ.
• A calendar of events scheduled.
• News highlights page.
• A list of participating students, following personal information guidelines.

Each School Sports Page should include:

• An introduction to the team, it's history, and it's accomplishments.
• A list of involved staff, teachers, and parents.
• A Calendar of scheduled sporting competitions and training sessions.
• A FAQ about the sport program and team.
• An announcements page that encompasses community and school news in regards to the team.
• A list of the teams members, following personal information guidelines.

Each School Fundraising Project Page should include:

• The summary of the goals of the project, including what the money is to be used for.
• A summary of the fundraising activity (ies) for the project (if applicable).
  A contact summary page for the project.
• Information on the fundraising provider or sponsor including links and contact information about that company or group.
• An actual page for the fundraiser, should it be a web based fundraising service.

High Schools:

Each high  school website should contain the following information pages:

• School Calendar.
• School Lunch Menu.
• School Emergency Contact Information and General Contact Information.
• School Curriculum guide(s) and/or school handbook.
• Administrative Staff Listing.
• School Newsletter.
• School Policies.
• School history and information, to include the school name, address, date built, school logo and mascot, and any other specific information deemed valuable to the public. (As applicable to each school).
• Mission statement and/or a "Message from the Principal".

Each Teacher site should include the following:

• A list of homework assignments by class (when applicable).
• Special projects, by class (when applicable).
• A brief bio of the teacher and introduction, including contact information.
• A links page (recommended, but not required).
• An activities and images page (recommended, but not required).

Suggestions:

• Teachers are encouraged to create web pages through the school web site.
• Features might include:

  Teacher schedule/conference periods.

  Class identification.

  Class activities/upcoming class events.

  Student projects.

  Useful lessons and projects for teachers and parents.

  Hotlists.

  Description of use of Internet in particular class.

  Student artwork (drawing, painting, photography).

  Student writing (poetry, essays, short stories).

  Homework hotline.

Each School Activity Page should include:

• An introduction to the activity or event.
• A list of involved staff members and teachers.
• A list of participating students, following personal information guidelines.

Each School Group Page should include:

• An introduction to the group.
• A list of involved staff members and teachers.
• Contact information.
• A FAQ.
• A calendar of events scheduled.
• A list of participating students, following personal information guidelines.

Each School Organization Page should include:

• An introduction to the Organization
• A list of involved staff members, teachers, and parents.
• Contact information.
• A FAQ.
• A calendar of events scheduled.
• News highlights page.
• A list of participating students, following personal information guidelines.

Each School Sports Page should include:

• An introduction to the team, it's history, and it's accomplishments.
• A list of involved staff, teachers, and parents.
• A Calendar of scheduled sporting competitions and training sessions.
• A FAQ about the sport program and team.
• An announcements page that encompasses community and school news in regards to the team.
• A list of the teams members, following personal information guidelines.

Each School Fundraising Project Page should include:

• The summary of the goals of the project, including what the money is to be used for.
• A summary of the fundraising activity (ies) for the project (if applicable).
  A contact summary page for the project.
• Information on the fundraising provider or sponsor including links and contact information about that company or group.
• An actual page for the fundraiser, should it be a web based fundraising service.

Design/Graphic Guidelines

Design Content:

• Do not neglect content in favor of flashy design.
• Information superhighway NOT animation superhighway.
• Home page fit in one window, no scrolling required (design for an average of 15-inch screen).
• Design for the web not for paper.
• Design for cross-platform (systems, monitors, and browsers).
• Link to the teacher home page or school home page.
• Avoid the use of unnecessary special effects such as blinking text, animated gifs, and sounds/music/video.
• Pages should be optimized for the target audience of use in regards to resolution.

Graphics Content:

• Use appropriate and/or relevant graphics.
• No under construction sign-web is always under construction.
• Limit the number of images and repeat like images when possible.
• Reduce image sizes and create thumbnail images when possible.
• Copyright guidelines must be followed.

Student Information and Image Standards

To protect our students, certain strictly enforced standards have been developed. These standards follow federal and state guidelines established in various acts and legal decisions, and are to be considered whenever posting images or names of students. No web page may be loaded to an active web server containing images or names of students without it first being reviewed by a Webmaster, principal, or administrator in Unit 5.

At the elementary level, no image shall be added to a web page that singles out a specific student. Images should be of a group nature only and not contain legible nametags or other identifying text within the image. Captions or accompanying text to the image shall not contain specific names of students.

At the middle school level, no image shall be added to a web page that singles out a specific student. Images should be, also, of a group nature only and not contain legible nametags or other identifying text within the image. Captions or accompanying text, however, may contain the first name of students within a shot but never a last name or other personal information.

At the high school level, images may be added that single out a specific student. Images may contain legible text or identifiers of the person or persons in the image. Captions or accompanying text may also contain first and last names where appropriate, but never personal information beyond that.

It must be understood that personal information is defined as any data that violates a child (or staff members) right to privacy, or that may endanger their safety. Personal information is considered to be such information as address, phone number, neighborhood, personal email addresses, information regarding relatives or parents, etc. Staff work email addresses are not to be considered private and are not specifically protected by this definition.

Staff Information and Image Standards

By default, limited information about staff members is permitted for publication on the web. Information should be limited to the following items (and of a professional nature):

• Email
• Full Name
• Years on Staff
• Current Home Base
• Current Home Base Phone Number
• Current Position
• Past accomplishments and activities
• Education and qualifications

Images, by default are NOT freely published on unit 5 websites.  Staff involved in web publishing efforts wishing to use images of staff members on Unit 5 web sites must acquire permission in advance of any publishing effort.  This permission is acquired through the completion and filing of a Staff Photo Release Form (PDF - click or right click and "save as").  

The Staff Photo Release Form must be filled out PRIOR to any staff member's image being published on a Unit 5 website.  These include images where a staff member is visible, even in group shots.  With a form on record, staff members are granting the unlimited right to publish their image on public websites unless they specifically request other wise in writing or in person to the school principal.

Forms will be kept on file in the school principal's office for one school year.

Unit 5 provided email addresses are public knowledge and provided by the district to facilitate communication. Special consideration may be given for staff members in a sensitive position within the district regarding the publication of email and other contact information.  However, email addresses may be published as needed without prior consent from staff.

The School  Webmaster program and its involvement with School Webs

The definition of a School Webmaster is any person who creates, maintains, and adds content to a school's website. School webmasters have a defined scope of work and responsibility, but are not limited by such a scope except within the confines of district web guidelines. As this position is further refined within policy, expectations may change, but not without prior notice.

Scope of Work:

School webmasters are responsible for the core set of pages that make up a schools web. These are defined as administrative and school pages of general content. They will work with school Administrators and the District Webmaster to create a minimum set of pages that meet district guidelines for school webs. 

Content beyond the minimums is encouraged, as is school identity and individuality. School webmasters should work with administrative staff at the school level to determine specific layout and color picking, as well as content inclusion above the required minimums. 

Once basic layout and color picking is done by the school staff and Webmaster, the volunteer webmasters will be provided a set of templates that may be given to staff and students for individual content creation and additions. This set of templates and/or CSS sheets will be cooperatively created and archived for use by the school webmasters, staff, and students as needed. By using these templates the school web shall both maintain it's visual consistency and have a base facility for easing content additions by all concerned.

Each school shall be provided a set of school logos in various sizes and graphic formats for general use. This logo set provided will be of a high quality and should be archived for current and future use. The school staff and volunteer Webmaster will determine it's proper usage within the guidelines and the decided look of the school's web.

School webmasters are not responsible for the creation of teacher, activity, sports, group, organization, club, or other pages that are included on the school web. However, they are the primary point of contact for these groups should questions arise regarding content standards, requirements, or for technical questions regarding content. If the school webmasters are unable to answer a question posed to them by district staff or students in regards to the web, they are encouraged to escalate the question to the District Webmaster for a solution.

Recommendations

The Unit 5 Web Development Team made the above recommendations. Team members include:

The Unit 5 School Webmaster 2003 Development Team members include:

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