WEB PUBLISHING POLICY This Policy was approved by Senate onn 4 June 2014 and came into force on 1 July 2014. 1
Introduction Overview This Policy applies to all websites published under the aston.ac.uk domain and any subdomains, along with any externally registered domain 1 which is used by members of the University to publicise teaching, research, engagement or any other associated activity as part of the business of Aston University. The website is designed to support the strategic objectives of the University and help academic units and support services to carry out their functions. This Policy outlines the hosting and support provision for web publishing at Aston University along with associated guidance. It is intended to provide clarity and consistency for all web editors in support of best practice 2 and is subject to regular review. Feedback on this Policy, requests for clarification or general support queries should be sent to the Head of Digital Marketing via the Website contact form 3. Scope This Policy governs the public provision of information via the internet. This Policy applies to the online publication of material: On any website with an address that is part of the University s internet domains On any website managed by a department of the University By a member of staff in connection with his or her University employment By a student in connection with his or her coursework. The ICT Acceptable Use Policy 4 along with the JANET acceptable use policy 5 supplements this Policy in respect of the use of University ICT Facilities. The Social Media Policy 6 supplements this Policy in respect of issues specifically relating to the publication of content on social media sites (also incorporating the use of user-generated content and closed media sites). Support 1. Design, content and publishing support for all sites hosted on aston.ac.uk is provided by Digital Marketing. 2. Development support, where required, will be brokered by Digital Marketing via Information Systems Aston (ISA) or external suppliers as appropriate. 1 All domains used must also be owned by the University 2 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/staff/marketing/web/ 3 http://www.aston.ac.uk/feedback 4 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/ict/staffguide/regs/ 5 https://community.ja.net/library/acceptable use policy 6 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/about/university governance/university regulation/social media/ 2
3. All official web pages (Schools, Departments, Groups, Centres, Research Projects etc ) should use the official University template design for brand consistency. 4. Any exceptions for official web content will need to be approved by Digital Marketing and conform to minimum branding guidelines 7. Reporting issues If staff spot an error or out-of-date information on the website then they should fill out the Website Feedback form 8 for non-school pages. If something on a School website needs to be reported then the relevant email address below should be contacted: o o o o ABS: abswebsite@aston.ac.uk EAS: easwebsite@aston.ac.uk LHS: lhswebsite@aston.ac.uk LSS: lsswebsite@aston.ac.uk If staff have a technical issue with the website then they should email web.issues@aston.ac.uk 7 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/staff/marketing/branding/ 8 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/website/website feedback/ 3
1 General policy principles 1. All staff and students providing information within the scope of this Policy are expected to ensure that all material is prepared and maintained in accordance with the published regulations, standards and procedures. 2. Failure to observe this Policy will be considered a serious matter by the University, and may give rise to disciplinary procedures. 3. In providing information, no member of the University should act in any way that could endanger the good name or reputation of the University, nor provide material which is inappropriate for publication by the University. 4. If a member of the University is considering creating a new website for official University content then they must contact the Head of Digital Marketing via the Website contact form 9, or contact their School s Marketing Officer, in the first instance to receive appropriate advice and guidance. 2 Ownership 1. Digital Marketing (part of Marketing, Communications & Market Research) manage the aston.ac.uk domain and are responsible for the structure, design, quality standards, support and coordination of all publishers. 2. Every recognised School, Department, Administrative Section and Project may publish official web pages. 3. Ownership of content on School and Department websites is the responsibility of Heads of Department (Web Content Owners) and delegated Web Content Editors. 4. As Web Content Owners each Head of Department is ultimately responsible for any content published within their area. They are free to delegate the day-to-day management of this responsibility. 5. Each set of pages must have an assigned Web Content Editor. This member of staff will coordinate content creation and publishing and normally this will also be the person who undertakes the actual publication of information to the website. The Web Content Editor reports to the Web Content Owner and liaises with the School / Department Marketing Officer and assigned Digital Marketing Assistant from within Digital Marketing. 6. Access to publish information to the University's website is given by ISA, after attending a mandatory Easysite CMS training course 10 7. It is the responsibility of the Web Content Owner to ensure that the Web Content Editor and School / Departmental Marketing Officer are kept informed of any staff changes. 9 http://www.aston.ac.uk/feedback 10 http://staffdev.aston.ac.uk/bookings/fullcourse.aspx?courseid=221 4
3 Responsibilities 1. Responsibility for the following rests with the Digital Marketing team (part of Marketing, Communications & Market Research): a. Granting approval for any web project b. Providing expertise and support on technical and design issues in web publishing, and identifying any failure to meet published standards. 2. Responsibility for approving student recruitment material on University and departmental websites rests with the Digital Marketing team and the Marketing provisions within each individual School. 3. Responsibility for the training and access of individual users to the University CMS rests with ISA. 4. Heads of Department are responsible for ensuring that the content of all their departmental materials on the University website is factually accurate and that such materials are maintained and regularly updated. a) All pages should be reviewed regularly and updated if appropriate. Page owners should maintain a review schedule indicating the deadlines for review. Normally a review will be undertaken at least once every 6 months. Any page that features date sensitive information (such as events, schedules or deadlines) must be updated within 2 weeks after the passing of the relevant date. b) Reasonable effort must be made to ensure that there are no broken links on web pages. This applies particularly to pages with external links outside the direct control of the author or publisher. c) Pages may be removed without notice by the Digital Marketing team when they are more than 12 months old and repeated efforts to prompt update have failed. 5. The Marketing, Communications & Market Research department is responsible for the top level web pages on the University s website (About, Study, Research, Birmingham, News), which fall under the control of the Digital Marketing team. The remainder of the content, whilst overseen by the Digital Marketing team, is the responsibility of the Web Content Owners and Editors for each area. 4 Compliance with related regulations, policies & agreements The website should not be used in a way that breaches any other University policy: 1. Any material made available on the web within the scope of this policy is subject to the JANET Acceptable Use Policy 11. 11 https://community.ja.net/library/acceptable use policy 5
2. Anyone providing information within the University s internet domain or other domain purchased for the purposes of the University must abide by the Regulations for the Use of University ICT Facilities 12. These cover the appropriate use of computer equipment, email, the internet, telephones etc. and demonstrates how the misuse of ICT systems can damage the business and reputation of the University. 3. The University s Communications System Monitoring Policy 13 which covers the University s monitoring policy on computer equipment, email, the internet, telephones etc. 4. Under the University s requirement to comply with Information Governance legislation and best practice as issued by the Information Commissioner and under the University s duties under the data protection act, ISA and the Universities Data Controller have a particular responsibility for ensuring the legality of arrangements for data collection via online forms or cookies. 5. No material must be made available whose publication would constitute a copyright or trademark infringement on the University website. 6. Any advertising or publicity material must comply with the Code of Practice for Advertisers issued by the Advertising Standards Authority 14. 7. In order to ensure that website complies with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (2001) (SENDA) 15, the University must follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 16 published by the World Wide Web Consortium. 8. Students are warned that, where degree regulations require that material submitted for examination must not have been previously published, prior availability of all or part of the material on a website might make it ineligible for submission. 9. The University s Data Protection Policy 17 which highlights the appropriate way to deal with someone else s personal information (e.g. never disclose personal information about a colleague online). 10. The University s Disciplinary Rules for Staff 18, Regulations on Student Discipline 19 and Prevention of Harassment Policy 20 stipulate how members of the University should act in a professional manner and treat colleagues with respect. 11. Aston s ethical values and principles set out in the University Ethics Framework 21. 12. The University s Equality and Diversity Policy 22. 13. An information provider must ensure that material published does not risk criminal prosecution or civil legal action. 12 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/ict/staffguide/regs/ 13 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/easysiteweb/gatewaylink.aspx?alid=2751 14 https://www.gov.uk/marketing advertising law/advertising codes of practice 15 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2001/10/contents 16 http://www.w3.org/wai/intro/wcag 17 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/about/university governance/university regulation/data protection/ 18 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/staff/hr/policy procedures/other/alcdisc/ 19 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/registry/for staff/regsandpolicies/discipline of students regulations/ 20 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/staff/hr/equalops/policies/harassmentpolicy/ 21 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/about/university governance/ethics framework/ 22 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/staff/hr/equalops/ 6
5 Intellectual property and confidential information Members of the University should respect all Aston s intellectual property and confidential information by: 1. Not giving away confidential information about an individual (such as a student, colleague or partner contact) or organisation (such as a partner institution); 2. Not doing anything to jeopardise confidential information and intellectual property through the use of social media. 3. Not misappropriating or infringing the intellectual property of other companies and individuals, which can create liability for the University, as well as themselves. 4. Not using University logos, brand names, slogans or other trademarks, or post any of the University s confidential or proprietary information without prior written permission, and unless they are in accordance with the University s Branding Guidelines 23. 5. Protecting themselves and the University against liability for copyright infringement. Members of the University should not assume that they can copy information from one website to another and should consider whether material they are using on the website is actually their own or the University s. If material is not their own, they may be personally infringing someone else s copyright, unless they have prior permission to use the material. 6. Members of the University should ask the Head of Digital Marketing via the Website contact form 24 for further information on the licences and permissions the University already has to use certain information. 6 University Website 1. All the University s official websites are managed exclusively by Digital Marketing, ISA or the marketing provision within the Academic Schools / Departments. 2. Staff preparing material for publication on the University s website are required to follow the direction of the Director of Marketing in regard to tone of voice, design, technical standards and appropriateness of technology. 3. All material made available to external website visitors must have approval by ISA, Digital Marketing or the marketing provision within the Academic Schools / Departments. 4. The University reserves the right to remove, amend or make inaccessible any material it considers contrary to the University Regulations, Policy & Procedures 25, 23 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/staff/marketing/branding/ 24 http://www.aston.ac.uk/feedback 25 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/quality/a z/ 7
the ICT Acceptable Use Policy 26 or this Policy. 5. The main Aston website, and associated School and Department sites, should not be used for the hosting or publication of teaching materials and any hosting of this kind will not be supported 27. 7 Personal websites 1. The University website hosts only official content. Personal content carries no endorsement from the University and is not allowed on the University website. Any member of the University should source their own web hosting for their personal content. 2. Official content is concerned with the corporate work of the University, whether by theme (e.g. prospectus, research, project) or by organisational unit (e.g. School, subject group or administrative department). Official content carries the endorsement of the University. 3. Personal websites created by staff or students must not: a. Imply that they are published by the University itself b. Borrow the design template of a University website c. Carry the University logo or crest or any element of them d. Carry any other material of which the copyright belongs to the University. 4. Exceptions to provisions of 7.3 are permitted where the explicit authorisation of Marketing, Communication & Market Research is given, or the website is being created by a student as part of a University project or coursework students wishing to use the University logo must first seek approval from Digital Marketing. 5. Where a personal website carries University information or material under the exceptions allowed under 7.4, the site will be regarded as subject to this Policy, regardless of where it is hosted, and will be expected to comply with the same technical and accessibility standards as other University websites, and to adhere to the design standards as far as is appropriate. 6. Lecturers who encourage students to create personal websites in connection with University projects or coursework are required to: a. Draw the attention of the students to this Policy b. Take reasonable steps to ensure that the students are aware of the legal and regulatory requirements governing such sites. Students attention should be specifically drawn to copyright material and trademarks. 8 Websites involving collaborators, partners or sponsors 1. Possible exceptions to University branding guidelines are websites involving collaborative partners, sponsors or of an independent nature. 26 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/ict/staffguide/regs/ 27 The University s supported Virtual Learning Environment is Blackboard (https://vle.aston.ac.uk). Blackboard can be used by all University staff for the hosting of teaching materials and other course related content. 8
2. If the development of official University websites cannot be accommodated in-house by the University s Digital Marketing team (through Easysite or WordPress) then the development must be done by ISA or one of the third parties approved by the University. 3. The University logo must appear on the website with equal size and prominence as any local logo including a link back to the Aston University homepage. 4. Where research activity comprises partners from outside of Aston University, it is recommended that the web presence for the group be hosted by the lead institution. 5. Where there is a requirement for a URL which is independent of any of the institutions involved, payment, administration and upkeep of such domains is the responsibility of the research project team itself. 6. Collaborative websites with other institutions or partners that are not hosted on the University web servers are not supported technically by Digital Marketing or ISA. However, the University s Head of Digital Marketing must be contacted at the outset of any such project. 9 Enforcement Failure to observe this Policy, by staff, students or by third-parties on behalf of staff or students, will be considered a serious matter by the University. Depending on the nature of an incident the University may institute disciplinary action or pass information on to the appropriate authorities. The University reserves the right to amend, restrict or remove material, including links to material, considered in breach of the Policy. In practice, the person identified as responsible for maintaining an offending page (web content editor) will be requested to amend, restrict or remove the material immediately. A deadline will be set, which will vary according to the nature of the problem. Failure to comply will result in material being amended, restricted or removed without further notice. In extreme cases no prior warning will be given before the University takes this action. 10 Supporting documents The Digital Marketing and Web Development teams have put together the following online guides to help with any day-to-day website queries that Web Editors may have: Easysite CMS Training Guide and How To 28 Digital Marketing: Writing for the web, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media 29 28 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/ict/staffguide/website/easysite/ 29 http://www1.aston.ac.uk/staff/marketing/web/ 9
Appendix 1. Any images used must be optimised for the web (dimensions, resolution, file size, colour model) 2. Web pages must be cross-browser compatible with the most popular web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. 3. If Flash is used it should be used minimally and only when appropriate, with fully accessible content. 4. Web facilities at the University may not be used for advertising or for other commercial activities unrelated to the University. 5. Where secure publishing of internal content is required, these can be hosted on the staff intranet 30. This service may be used by all Schools and Departments, with the approval of Digital Marketing and ISA. It is intended for staff internal communications use only. 30 www.aston.ac.uk/staff 10