District Web Site Design Guidelines

You Must...

1. Follow Copyright Laws. It is illegal for any person to copy and or save an image from a web site!
   Every authored element of every web page is copyright protected .
2. Provide a link back to free image sites if it is required by the site's image use policy.
3. Do not include links to other sites that may lead to inappropriate web sites.
4. Make your site handicap accessible by using alt tags with your images.
5. Do not publish a photo of a student without having written permission from their parent or guardian. This should be on file in the school office. (Distant group photos where student can not be recognized are OK.)
6. NEVER publish children’s names on the web. This applies to identification of photos or work. If you feel you want to give recognition to a student’s photo or work have kids create a “screen name” to identify there work. That way only people who know their screen name will know who they are.
7. Provide your e-mail address to facilitate communication between you, students and parents.
   (Since the email programs are not activated in the Rochester Schools, you need to make sure that you include the email address written out.
   Example: webmaster@rochesterschools.com
8. If you want to include links to text documents save them as .rft files. This way everyone will be able to open the files on their computer no matter what text editor they have installed.
   
   Other suggestions for a well designed web site...
   
   1. Coordinate the design of your page with your school's web site.
      Templates are available contact webmaster@rochesterschools.com
   2. Keep your page up to date.
   3. Put the most important information near the top of the document.
      That might include the title of your page, the purpose of the page, the date your page was last updated or a link back to the homepage. Do not include the date page was last updated unless you plan to update it often
   4. Write clearly and be brief.
   5. Do not put too much information on one page. If a page is getting large, split it into separate pages.
   6. Do not overload your web site with graphics.
      Web sites with a lot of graphics take a long time to load up.
   7. Organize your documents for quick scanning by using headlines to summarize topics and by using lists.
   8. Do not use a printed graphic for the background of your page. This makes it too hard to read and distracts the visitor. (Very faint prints might work, but be careful!
   9. Avoid BLINKING TEXT. It attracts attention, but it is very annoying. There are better ways of emphasizing text, like BOLD and ITALICS or change your text color or size.
   10. Do not underline your text…people will think anything that is underlined is a link!