SFA Home / Policies

University Web Site (D-45)

Original Implementation: August 1, 2000
Last Revision: July 10, 2007

The university Web site is an important communication tool for the university and the source of vital information for prospective and current students, as well as faculty and staff, among other audiences. The quality of the university is evaluated in part by its online content.

The Office of Public Affairs provides online practice guidelines, which are updated from time to time. Current guidelines may be found here on the university Web site.

  1. Responsibility
    1. Management of the Web site, led by the Office of Public Affairs, strives to ensure that information is accurate and easily accessible, while recognizing the contributions of university colleges, schools, departments and programs.
    2. The administrative head of each campus organizational unit maintaining a Web site is responsible for seeing that the site adheres to this and other university policies.
    3. The Office of Information Technology Services manages the university Web site server(s).
    4. Every organizational unit head shall designate an individual(s) to serve the following functions: pagemaster, webmaster, and if applicable, server administrator. (The same person may serve in one or more of these capacities.) To ensure continuity of service, these individuals must be regular (non-student) university employees. However, the organizational unit head is responsible for the unit's Web site and its adherence to university Web policy and practices provided by the Office of Public Affairs. Careful thought must be given to the collection of site content and the ongoing responsibility of site maintenance.
    5. Each organizational unit head will keep the Office of Public Affairs apprised of the current designees and will assist the Office of Public Affairs in ensuring that all of the designees' responsibilities have been fulfilled.
  2. Technical Requirements
    1. Duplication. To facilitate revisions and prevent contradictory information from appearing on the university Web site, unit webmasters should not duplicate information already on the university Web site, but rather should link to information on the site of the office primarily responsible for the function or activity. Information should be entered into the university's content management system and used from the system when available.
    2. Identification. Each Web site associated with Stephen F. Austin State University must be clearly identified. The name of the organizational unit should be on every page it creates. The unit webmaster or pagemaster’s e-mail address must be displayed on the unit's main page. To preserve anonymity, generic e-mail addresses may be used.
    3. Required page links. Documents should be designed to minimize users' reliance on navigational aids in browsers. Links must be provided on each page back to the homepage for that document or collection, and for the homepage, back to the sponsoring department or unit. Each department or unit homepage must include a link back to the university homepage. Other links may be required for different Web sites as directed by the Office of Public Affairs.
    4. 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 consistently produce error messages or otherwise do not work. Unit webmasters should check frequently for broken or dead links on their pages. An error rate of greater than 3% is, in most cases, unacceptable.
    5. Under construction. Under construction messages or image signs may not be used.
    6. Names. Files, folders, and images should not have spaces in the name. Spaces in links are unconventional and occasionally do not work with some browsers or link checkers.
    7. Index designation. Every directory on the central server must include a file named "index.htm, html, asp, php, etc.."
    8. Mission statement. Every organizational unit must display its mission statement on its Web site and must provide a prominent link from this statement to the university mission statement.
  3. Outsourcing

    4. An organizational unit that is considering contracting outside the university for Web development, paid or volunteer, should contact the Office of Public Affairs first. The Office of Public Affairs will work with units and their Web consultants to help ensure that the final product of outsourcing efforts complies with university policy and that the final site supports the mission and goals of the unit and the university effectively.
  4. Content

    5. Responsibility for accuracy of Web content is the responsibility of everyone in the university, especially the deans, directors, managers and their designees:
    1. Faculty Web pages must be approved by the relevant dean or designee.
    2. Unit Web pages must be approved by the relevant director/manager or designee.
    3. The university home page and top-level pages must be approved by the Office of Public Affairs.
    4. Administrative material, e.g. policies, minutes of meetings, are to be approved through appropriate administrative channels prior to posting.
    5. Obsolete or out-of-date material must be removed as soon as practical.
    6. The Office of Public Affairs will remove links on the university home page and index pages to material that is considered obsolete.
  5. E-commerce Activity

    6. The university offers a secure method to support e-commerce activities, such as online payments for university courses and auxiliary programs like informal courses and summer camps. Contact marketplace@sfasu.edu for more information about establishing e-commerce service on a university Web site.
  6. Copyright and Privacy

    7. Copyright laws and university copyright policy must be followed. 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.
  7. Commercial Activity

    8. Commercial activity for personal gain is not permitted on any site operated with university resources, nor may readers be automatically re-directed from a university Web site to an external Web site that may result in personal financial income any university employee.
  8. ADA Compliance

    9. Pages must be accessible to persons with disabilities. Text files must be available for sound files containing substantive spoken content. Images and other visual files must include an ALT attribute and appropriate text. See the state of Texas Web site Rules and Regulations for additional information on meeting requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
  9. Exceptions

All requests for exemptions from these standards must be submitted in writing to the Office of Public Affairs prior to a Web site launch.

Cross Reference: None

Responsible for Implementation: President

Contact for Revision: Executive Director of Marketing

Forms: None