Website Guidelines and Procedures

Website Guidelines and Procedures
Website Writing Style Guide
Website Writing Style Guide (PDF)

1.0 Website Vision

1.01 The website supports the college’s mission by providing content-rich, user-friendly, and accessible information source primarily for students, but also for members of the community, business and industry, and college employees.

2.0 Guidelines

2.0.1 All areas of the college are encouraged to provide materials that they believe will be of interest to people within and outside the college.

2.0.2 All IVCC pages created by college divisions, departments, programs, and offices are considered "official" in that they must have the approval of the college president or the appropriate vice president, director, or dean before being posted to the website. Those divisions, departments, programs, and offices that have web pages are responsible for posting and updating information whether or not they have direct access to edit the website. It is advised that each area of the college that has web pages posted have, at minimum, one person in charge of overseeing those pages.

2.0.3 Departments wishing to put up web pages will designate a person within their unit who will be responsible for maintaining the information provided. Those designees will work closely with the Web Leadership and Governance Team (Web Team) to establish their presence and will be the only individual(s) authorized to edit their site.

2.0.4 Photographs, videos, or audio (media) of individual(s) placed on the IVCC website must have a signed written permission document on file of all individuals that appear in the media. (This file should be kept by the individual(s) maintaining pages the media appears on.)  Media of minors (under age 18) must have written permission from a parent or legal guardian before the media is placed on a web page. Official permission documents can be obtained from Community Relations.

Media created/taken by individual(s) must have signed permission from the copyright holder in order to be used on a web page. If the creator is a minor (under age 18), written permission for use must come from a parent or legal guardian. Official permission documents can be obtained from Community Relations.

News organizations like the Student Newspaper are held by laws and rulings of federal, state, local laws, and their respective press affiliation.

Videos will need to include closed captioning.

2.0.5 IVCC does not grant non-employees access to the web server(s). Access may be given to student workers on a case-by-case basis.

2.1 Web Page General Guidelines

2.1.1 All college web pages will adhere to the guidelines enumerated in this section. Administrative and academic departmental pages will strictly adhere to the web page template(s) that can be obtained from the Web Team. The appropriate template is to be used for official college web pages only.

These standards are based on Federal "Section 508" and World Wide Web Consortium accessibility guidelines.

2.2 Grant Funded Programs Web Page Guidelines

2.2.1 All grant program websites will need to follow the website template.

2.3 Submitting and Posting Materials to the Website

2.3.1 A designee will submit departmental pages that follow policies and guidelines in this document.

2.3.2 All submissions must be completely proofread, spell-checked, and fully ready for review and publishing. The author who submit(s) any material(s) must obtain copyright approval when necessary. Copies of any permission documents must accompany the submission(s).

2.3.3 Since content on the Web is considered to be "published", any content that is copyrighted by another individual or group and is posted on the Internet would be a violation of copyright laws. If you wish to post to the Internet, you must have written permission from the copyright holder. When requesting copyright permission you should include your name and how you can be contacted, including your full e-mail address. You should also include how and why you are using the materials and the information on how to contact the college Web Team.

2.3.4 Submissions are to be provided via email in Microsoft Word format. Also submit a list of all links to and all links from the submitted page, so that appropriate linkages can be built.

2.3.5 Submissions can be turned into the Webmaster for posting on the website and/or review by the Web Team (ten business days in advance of the date it is needed on the website) or posted by a designated individual in the submitter’s department who has the ability to edit the website.  The time to create graphic, media, web application(s), or form(s) will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

2.4 SSL Certificate Guidelines

2.4.1 All sites and pages must use the college’s SSL certificate.

3.0 Violations

3.0.1 Actions that are prohibited:

  • Disregarding the use of the web page template.
  • Copyright and licensing violations. All such violations are the responsibility of the owner of the page to whom it belongs and not the responsibility of the college.
  • Vandalism and mischief that incapacitates, compromises or destroys college resources and/or violates federal or state laws.
  • Posting of private or confidential information (e.g., faculty/staff private directory information without permission, student records or addresses).
  • Use of a website for personal business or gain, including advertisements for commercial services or products provided by the owner of the page or third party.
  • Dissemination of obscene, harassing, threatening or unwelcome communications as outlined in college policy, federal, state or local laws.
  • Allowing non-approved/unqualified individuals or groups using your account to access the Web server and/or CMS.

3.1 Disciplinary Action

3.1.1 Abuse of computing privileges and nonobservance of these policies will subject violators to disciplinary action. Computing privileges may be revoked and violators will be subject to the usual judicial procedures of the College. In addition, this policy does not preclude further action resulting from the application of pertinent laws and regulations of the State of Illinois and/or the United States of America.

3.1.2 Member(s) of the Web Team will review web pages on a periodic basis. In the case of a minor violation, an initial warning letter or e-mail will be issued to the individual. (Errors in the use of the Web template may be corrected with or without notice.)  The individual's account may be deactivated until the person responds to the letter or e-mail. The letter or e-mail will state that the user's actions violated these Guidelines and Procedures as reviewed by the Web Team. The user will have two business days to correct the violation.  If a second violation occurs, the user's account will be deactivated, followed by a letter or e-mail describing the violation. Where appropriate, the matter will be turned over to the proper office, administrator, or supervisor.

3.1.3 If, in the opinion of the Web Team, a violation is excessive or a blatant attempt to undermine the use of the Internet, or the reputation of Illinois Valley Community College, the Web Team reserves the right to disregard the warning process, immediately disable the user's account and turn the matter over to the Director of Information and Technology Services office. The Web Team will cooperate fully, upon the advice of the College legal counsel, with any local, state or federal officials investigating an alleged crime committed by an individual who has an account on an Illinois Valley Community College computer system.

3.1.4 Errors in the use of the Web template may be corrected with or without notice.