• Section 1 - Purpose
• Section 2 - Glossary
• Section 3 - Policy
• Part A - Guiding Principles for the Use of the University's Website
• Part B - Publishing to the University Website
• Part C - Technical Requirements
• Section 4 - Procedures
• Section 5 - Guidelines

Section 1 - Purpose

(1) This Policy sets out Charles Sturt University's management principles on the development, maintenance and use of its website.

(2) The Policy aims to support the development, maintenance and use of the Charles Sturt University (the University) website to further the University objectives, via both web design principles and the relevant compliance requirements.

Scope

(3) This Policy applies to any person or group who publish to University web servers, and to any pages on these servers. This includes authorised partners of the University.

(4) Any publication of official University material or material relating to University on any other online service not hosted on University web servers is also governed by this Policy.

(5) The Policy should be read in conjunction with related University and other policies, such as those listed on the title page. Where the Policy is at variance with any of these documents or with other policies or instruments, advice should be sought from the Web Management Committee.

(6) The University reserves the right to make changes to its site at any time and without notice. The Web Management Committee, or Presiding Officer in urgent cases, is authorised to act immediately for serious breaches of this Policy.

Section 2 - Glossary

(7) For the purpose of this Policy:

1. Content Management System (CMS) - is software which helps create, manage, and publish content to the University's website. The system provides access to a simple and non-technical means of web publishing.
2. Electronic Information - is information that is stored, issued, distributed or forwarded as text, graphics, images and/or computer programs via any University computer hardware, facilities or networks.
3. Faculty/Division/Office/Centre/Section Web Officer - is a member of staff responsible for maintaining the website for Faculties and/or Schools, Divisions, Offices, Centres or Sections of the University.
4. Non-Official Pages - are pages published to the University web servers by staff and students of the University that are personal and which are not subject to the University's quality assurance procedures and practices.
5. Official Information/Pages - are the materials that have the official approval of the University and are subject to the University's quality assurance procedures and practices.
6. Page Curator - is the person(s) in each Faculty, School, Division or Section who has been assigned responsibility for the maintenance of a designated page(s) on the site.
7. Publishing - is placing text, print, images, video or sound on the University's website.
8. Senior Officers - include the Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Presiding Officer, Academic Senate, Deans, Head of Schools, Executive Directors, Research Centre Directors and the University Secretary.
9. Site or Website - University's official overall site. Pages on University web servers which service web applications should follow this Policy, unless a case is made to the Web Management Committee.
10. Web Coordinator - the person designated by the Executive Director or manager to maintain the website for the Division or unit.
11. Web Management Committee (WMC) - the committee responsible for adherence to this Policy and standards for the University's web environment. The WMC also has a senior advisory role on web and online strategy and processes.
12. Web Management Committee Operations Sub-Committee (WMC-OSC) - the WMC appointed subcommittee to deal with operational issues, such as implementation of publishing style guidelines and other operational aspects of this Web Policy. Membership consists of representatives from a broad range of areas across the University.
13. Web Curator - the person nominated by the WMC to coordinate the WMC-OSC and related operational matters as well as the development and implementation of the University's Web Policy and monitor policy compliance.

Section 3 - Policy

Part A - Guiding Principles for the Use of the University's Website

(8) The Charles Sturt University (the University) website is a University facility supporting a range of activities, including the provision of information to the University community (including prospective students), staff, alumni, the general public and potential clients for University research, research partners, consultancy and other services.

(9) The site also supports academic services, such as online supported subjects, and various administrative services.

(10) The University seeks to develop and manage its website to ensure that:

1. it is of high quality and projects a positive image of the University
2. information is current and accurate;
3. Australian and international law and the rules, regulations and policies of the University are not contravened;
4. freedom of expression is recognised and protected, within the constraints of (c), and with recognition that users must respect the rights of others in relation to gender, race, religion etc., and
5. due consideration is given to the needs of the diverse range of users who access the site, including those with disabilities.

(11) Staff and students and other authorised users of the site are expected to use the University's website in a manner that reflects positively on the University.

(12) The same care in the management of information must be exercised in publishing online information as would be expected with conventional publishing. This includes care in writing and proofing, and high standards of layout, following the University's style requirements where applicable.

(13) Responsibility for publication to the site is devolved to staff across the University, via a system of distributed ownership to ensure that each Faculty, School, Division, Centre and Section has editorial control of the information presented on the site, within the boundaries of this and other University policies.

(14) This approach aims to maintain appropriate freedom of expression while ensuring a high quality and consistency of the pages on the site.

Part B - Publishing to the University Website

(15) All official University information to be published on the website must be published as official University pages. Duplication of material found elsewhere on the site is to be avoided, particularly where that material is of an official nature.

(16) Page style must adhere to relevant University policies and style guidelines.

(17) Staff who wish to publish materials directly related to their teaching and/or research, that could be offensive to some people, must ensure that access to the section of the site is restricted to students and/or staff involved in the teaching or research activity. Otherwise, they must place on the first page of their section as well as subsequent pages of their site, a warning that images and/or text linked to this area may offend some people.

(18) All official University material on www.csu.edu.au must be published within the CMS.

(19) All official teaching materials, such as course and subject-related resources, must be published to an authorised protected University server and not to the public University server.

(20) Non-official pages of students and staff must be published in accordance with this Policy and with other relevant policies such as the Computing and Communication Facilities Use Policy. If a user ceases to have a University computer account, their non-official page will be deleted without further notice.

(21) In addition, non-official pages must:

1. only deal with information and activities related to a staff member's discipline area, teaching, research activities or other responsibilities associated with the position in the University held by the person, or the course or research with which a student is engaged;
2. not be anonymous or use pseudonymous names for the author;
3. not promote non-official commercial activities of staff or the activities of a community group that could avail themselves of a private internet host or provider; and
4. contain the disclaimer:

(22) Confidential information shall not be published on any University web server without prior approval of the person responsible for such information. Confidential information approved for publishing must be protected by username and password security.

(23) When publishing to the site, users must refer to and comply with all copyright requirements. The University has dedicated policy, staff and resources to assist publishers with copyright issues.

(24) Links to commercial entities should not be displayed on official University websites unless they form part of the authorised business of the University or one of its partners. However, specific exceptions may be approved by the WMC if the links support the University's mission and/or provide an essential service to the University.

(25) Approval of the WMC must be obtained prior to paid advertising being placed on the site. Approval for paid advertising on the site will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.

(26) Sponsorship may be approved provided the sponsor does not reflect poorly on the reputation of the University, and the sponsorship acknowledgment takes the form of a small logo and/or a short statement of acknowledgment. All sponsorship acknowledgments must be approved by the WMC.

Part C - Technical Requirements

(27) All official University pages must be able to be read by the standard approved University desktop internet browser. See above list of related University documents on cover sheet - "CSU EAL Infrastructure standards".

(28) All official University pages on the public web server must be able to be read and should not have any functionality inhibited when used by any of the most accessed browsers or most commonly used resolutions.

(29) All official University pages must comply with the University's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and validate to W3C standards.

(30) All official University web pages must reside on sites that have been approved by the appropriate delegated authority.

(31) To ensure the efficient and effective loading and handling of graphics on the site, image sizes, image types and technical definitions must comply with the current University guidelines for web publishing.

(32) URLs based on the University organisational structure are obtained via the University IT Service Desk. The WMC is not responsible for any licensing costs or ongoing maintenance and upkeep of domain name register details.

(33) Some URL types require approval from the WMC. These are:

1. virtual or sub-domain names which have the form of xxx.csu.edu.au/
2. non-University domain names which have the form of www.xxx.com.au - either hosted externally (in which case they shall only link to the primary location of any official University data) or hosted by the University.

(34) Requests for high-level domain names which follow the form of www.csu.edu.au/xxx may be approved and set up by a DIT Technology Integration or Service Desk representative.

(35) Standard forms of domain name such as www.csu.edu.au/division/xxx do not require approval from the WMC.

Section 4 - Procedures

(36) Nil.

Section 5 - Guidelines

(37) Nil.