MCCS Foundation
Community
Search Tools
Site Map
E-Mail Accounts

Introduction

Making a hyperlink to and from the MCCSC resources is an "active" step. There are curriculum, instructional, legal, and policy issues which eventually will come into play. There are questions of purpose and design which are interrelated to the issues. It is past time that some of these issues are addressed and, if possible, settled.

Among the questions and issues are the following:

1. Good design calls for a "family" appearance.
   • What are the divisions we will use to define "family?"
     
   • What are the design elements that "family" appearance should cover?
2. The MCCSC is legally responsible for the content of its Website.
   • What standards should be developed for content?
     
   • Is there a responsibility related to sites which are hyperlinked from MCCSC pages?
3. HTML itself is a "standard-in-progress."
   • Which HTML standard should we adopt?
     
   • Should MCCSC pages use proprietary extensions to HTML standards -- such as Netscape or Explorer?
     
   • Is there a relationship between these standards and accessibility to the pages?

   Add to these issues or offer your comments or suggestions by e-mailing the webmaster and slugging the Subject: line with Standards: Introduction.

Architecture

1. Identification:
   • A line identifying the school or corporation and address.
     • Monroe County Community School Corporation
       315 North Drive
       Bloomington, IN 47401
       
     • Bloomington High School South
       1965 South Walnut Street
       Bloomington, IN 47401
       
     • Unionville Elementary School
       8144 East State Road 45
       Unionville, IN 47468

   • A line identifying the owner of the page, if other than school or MCCSC.
     • Tim Wootton
       Technology Technician
       Office of Information Services
       315 North Drive
       Bloomington, IN 47401
       
     • George Turchyn
       Media Specialist/Librarian
       Arlington and Marlin
       
     • Reality House
       Batchelor Middle School
       900 Gordon Pike
       Bloomington, IN 47403

2. Contact/Responsible Individual
   • A line identifying the individual responsible for the content of the page.
     
   • A hyperlink to that individual's email account.
     • Comments or questions? E-mail <A HREF="mailto:webmaster@mccsc.edu">Webmaster</A>
       Comments or questions? E-mail Webmaster
       
     • This page created by <A HREF="mailto:tdaugher@mccsc.edu">Terry Daugherty</A>
       This page created by Terry Daugherty
       

3. Menus and navigation aids
   • The "school" page http://www.schoolname.mccsc.edu/ should be constructed as a "menu" to the topics or divisions contained at the school Website.

     The school webmaster is responsible for the content of the menu page and its links. Individuals and departments are responsible for the content and links of other pages.

     The school home page should be short and quick loading. Content other than the menu structure may be included until it is substantial enough for a separate filename.html page.

     Additional pages may be stored in the school directory, if they are the responsibility of the school webmaster, or in the www directories of individuals -- http://www.mccsc.edu/~individual/filename.html -- if the content is the responsibility of that individual.

   • The "school" page should contain a link "back" to the MCCSC home page.
     • www.MCCSC.edu
       <A HREF="http://www.mccsc.edu/">www.MCCSC.edu</A>
       • The link may contain an icon or thumbnail graphic.
         • 
           <IMG SRC="http://www.mccsc.edu/images/mccscnet.gif" alt=[www.MCCSC.edu]>

       • The graphic and the link may be combined as a hyperlink.
         • www.MCCSC.edu
           <A HREF="http://www.mccsc.edu/"><img src="http://www.mccsc.edu/images/mccscnet.gif" alt=[www.MCCSC.edu]> www.MCCSC.edu</A>

     • The link may be the entire MCCSC navigation bar.
       

• "Other" pages should contain a link back to the "sponsoring" page.
  • The "school" page contains a link to "guidance."
    The "guidance" page should contain a link back to the "school" page.
  • The "guidance" page contains a link to a "list of colleges."
    The "college" page should contain a link back to "guidance."

• Long documents should have "internal" jumps to the "Top" or to the "Menu."
  • Back to the Top
    Back to the <a href="#TOP">Top</A> <A HREF="#TOP">
    </A>

Add to these issues or offer your comments or suggestions by e-mailing the webmaster and slugging the Subject: line with Standards: Architecture.

1. MCCSC Web pages should be accessible to all users.
   • Pages should be designed with individual disabilities and browser characteristics in mind.

2. MCCSC Web pages should be accessible to all browsers.
   • A page readable by a text-only browser will be readable by any graphical browser on the market.
     
   • A page using Netscape extensions may not render or appear the same way on another graphical browser and may not be readable on a text-only browser.
     
   • A page using Microsoft Explorer extensions may not render or appear the same way on another graphical browser and may not be readable on a text-only browser.
   • A page using specific HTML standards, and carefully designed, will be readable on all browsers, including text-only, but may render differently from browser to browser, version to version.

3. MCCSC Web pages should be coded using the latest pure HTML standard -- HTML 3.2.
   • If proprietary extensions are used, the page should be tested on a text-only browser and on another graphical browser to determine if the rendered output is accessible and readable.
   • Even pure HTML 3.2 coding should be tested on a text-only browser to determine issues of readability.

4. MCCSC Web pages will be read on home computers using various modem speeds.
   • Introductory pages should contain a minimum of graphics and should not exceed 15,000 bytes of text.
     
   • Pages which are graphics-heavy should be identified as such in the link so that the user knows ahead of time and can make a decision about loading.
   • Graphics-intensive pages designed for appearance should have a text-only alternative so that the information is accessible.
   • Graphics-intensive information should be designed using small thumbnail images on the initial page with links to a larger graphic on a single page.

5. Graphics on MCCSC pages should contain an ALT=[Description] attribute.
   
   <IMG SRC="http://www.mccsc.edu/figures/tags-par.gif" ALT=[HTML_Template]>
   • On a text-only browser, this describes the image that is not being displayed. Without ALT=[Description], the browser prints out the term [IMAGE].
     
   • On any browser equiped for voice simulation for disabled users, the simulator pronounces the ALT=[Description] to inform the user of what is being shown. Again, without the attribute, the simulator pronounces, "image."

Add to these issues or offer your comments or suggestions by e-mailing the webmaster and slugging the Subject: line with Standards: Design.

Content, of course, must be in accordance with Policy 2521. That is, it must be appropriate for the varied MCCSC audience. Establishing a criteria for content must follow the same path one would take when developing classroom units or supplementary material. In addition, content must not violate accepted principles of copyright and "fair use."

Links: Hyper links to outside sites must be carefully monitored.

• Visit the site a number of times before linking to it.
  
• Continue to visit the site after establishing a link.
  
• Pay careful attention, not only to the content of that site, but also to the sites to which it links!
  
• Unless the links are continually monitored, it would be better to offer NO outside links at all.

Identification: Identification of students is "extra-policy," "extra-guidelines." That is, the issue is NOT addressed. However, the building principals have requested that students NOT be identified by First and Lastname. Use "Tommy P." In addition, group photos without an identifying cutline are more appropriate than individual photos. The less identifiable the better. This is a student-family security issue. There is paperwork in the hopper which allows for a family waiver of this restriction, but it has not been discussed or approved.

More Bad News about Content: Just because you find materials available on the Internet, or find it easy to scan them in from a book or magazine, does not mean that you have a right to publish them as you see fit. And this includes images, buttons, scripts, and designs that make that other Webpage so "neat" or "kewl."

Most printed or online materials you are likely to run across are protected by copyright. The lack of a copyright notice on published materials doesn't mean that they aren't copyrighted. Most material is automatically copyrighted upon publication unless its author explicitly states otherwise.

On the other hand... What you want to do may fit within the legal definition of "fair use". Here's a section of the U.S. Copyright Act: 17 U.S.C. S107.

Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair Use
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, the fair use of a copyrighted work, ... for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use, the factors to be considered shall include...

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
   
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
   
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
   
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

For further information, the Legal Information Institute of the Cornell Law School offers a complete copy of   Title 17 -- Copyrights.

Add to these issues or offer your comments or suggestions by e-mailing the webmaster and slugging the Subject: line with Standards: Content.

Add to these issues or offer your comments or suggestions by e-mailing the webmaster and slugging the Subject: line with Standards: Who?