Web Page Guidelines

RESPONSIBILITIES

• You need to include your email address somewhere on your web page so that the Information Technology (IT) office can contact you if necessary. This is also a bonus in that viewers can respond to your page, or send you suggestions and corrections. If you do not provide an email address or other contact information on your web page, IT may remove links to your material or the material itself without notice.
• You may not infringe on copyright laws. This includes photographs, album covers, other images, any sound bites, video, as well as printed materials. The material you provide on your web page must be original, in the public domain, or you must obtain written permission from the copyright holder to provide the material via the Internet. MidAmerica Nazarene University may be liable for any copyright infringement and could chose to pass that liability to the responsible parties. IT may, without notice, disconnect links to material appearing to be copyrighted. In general, however, IT will notify the owner of the account and will expect a response from the account owner within seven (7) days. If there is no response, IT may disconnect links seven (7) days after initial notification. IT may request that you provide written proof of permission to use copyrighted material.

SUGGESTIONS

Responsiveness is how quickly your web page loads or performs some action on the client (person viewing your page). For instance, regular text is typically very responsive, where video or large graphics may take several seconds to several minutes to transfer to the viewer. A key to responsiveness is giving users information they need so that they know what they are getting themselves into. For example, if you have a link to a large graphic or animation, tell the viewer how large it is before they view it. This will give the viewer an opportunity to make decisions about how to view your page which may reduce the user's frustration at not knowing what to expect.

Another way to enhance your web page is to put "thumbnails" (smaller versions of large images) on your page and include a link to view the full-size image as an option. Many viewers are still using slow Internet connections (or are impatient) and are happy to see a smaller version of the original. For the viewer that needs to see the full-size image, it can be made available as a viewing option. By making links on your web page clear and well organized, your page will be easy to browse. Be specific in the description of your links. You may want to let the viewer know if a link on your page points to another site, so that if there is a problem with that link, the viewer can contact the responsible party. You should try to keep your links current. Remove extinct links and monitor them for changes. Most people do not want to view an out-of-date web page. By placing the last modified date somewhere on your web page, viewers to your page will be able to tell immediately if you have added information. You can also place special codes in your page to have the last modified date automatically display.

If you have questions about these suggestions and responsibilities, please email the Webmaster.