Web Task Force (WTF)
10/10/2002 Meeting Notes
(These are not comprehensive notes.)
WTF Kickoff - Welcome New Members
Introduce Mindy Hersh (Dean of Counseling Division) and Debbie Tucker (Director of EOPS).
Website Statistics Fun
These statistics were compiled October 9, 2002. They do not include websites on the "online" web server or those on other computer systems (such as the HelpDesk and Accounts websites belonging to the IS Department, The Monitor website, the Bookstore website, the KOHL Radio website, the Web Advisor website).
Self-Managed Websites
5334 HTML files 13824 files 509 MB disk space (less than 1 CD-ROM)
Division, Department, Committee, Other Campus Group Websites
/instr 42
/org 49
misc 3
---
94
Faculty & Staff Websites
/people 46
Total Self-Managed Websites
94 + 46 = 140
Web Team-Managed Websites
613 HTML files
1589 files
35 MB disk space
/instr 2
/org 11
misc 1
--
14
plus home page, navigation pages, etc.
Grand Totals
5947 HTML files
15413 files
634 directories
16047 files and directories
544 MB disk space (less than 1 CD-ROM)
108 Div, Dept, Committee, Other Campus Group websites
46 Faculty, Staff websites
154 websites on the Ohlone College domain
Standard Web Design Software: Dreamweaver MX
Cheryl would like to make Macromedia Dreamweaver MX (which is the version released after Dreamweaver 4) the standard web page design software supported by the Web Team, for the following reasons:
- Dreamweaver MX is an industry standard for web designers.
- Dreamweaver MX is being offered inexpensively at $48.51 per license by the IS Department.
- Dreamweaver MX has accessibility features and produces valid HTML/XHTML markup.
- Many other web design software programs do not have accessibility features, do not produce valid markup, and/or are no longer being updated by the companies that produced them.
- The Faculty & Staff Technology Center is upgrading to Dreamweaver MX soon (the software order has been placed).
- Since the Faculty & Staff Technology Center is upgrading to Dreamweaver MX, the Online Education Department's workshops will probably teach Dreamweaver MX instead of other versions.
- Web Team workshops addressing "how tos" will prepare the tutorials for Dreamweaver MX.
- The Web Team has ordered Dreamweaver MX and hopes to have it installed and be able to work with it soon.
Pilar Lewis stated that Dreamweaver MX has the ability to convert web pages to valid HTML/XHTML pages.
Other software can be used by website maintainers at the college, but the Web Team may be unable to provide support for it since they cannot provide support for the wide variety of tools available (Adobe GoLive, NetObjects Fusion, Netscape Composer, Adobe PageMill)
The Web Task Force agreed that Dreamweaver MX can be the standard web design software tool supported by the Web Team, but indicated that the decision should be taken to Shirley Peck and Lisa Waits (both absent from this WTF meeting) for approval before being announced. Cheryl will contact Shirley and Lisa.
Pilar stated that the Multimedia Department is offering two 2-weekend Dreamweaver MX courses for 0.5 units each at a cost of about $5.00. Cheryl will include this information in an announcement to the "announcement" email list.
Review Possible New "More Links" Navigation Option in Standard Design Templates
[10/14/2002 - Cheryl changed the name to "More Links" because that is more appropriate than "Quick Links". WTF members wanted links in the drop-down menu limited to links that did not already appear on in the navigation options in the standard templates. "Quick Links" implies a quick way to get to a variety of links. "More links" implies a series of links in addition to the links already visible on the page.]
A "More Links" drop-down menu navigation option was proposed by Cheryl to provide links to additional commonly-used Ohlone websites, such as the Athletics, Bookstore, Academic Programs list, Campus Maps, Online Education, etc. on the home page. One possible location for the drop-down menu is in the side bar area below the links to audience-specific Resources. A second location is replacing the simple Search box in the top section of the template header and moving the Search box to below the links to audience-specific Resources.
Because the width of the drop-down menu is determined by the length of the longest option in the menu, it "fits" better in the header; however, moving the Search box to the side bar area remove that helpful feature from its current readily-available location.
A majority of the WTF voted to put the drop-down menu in the side bar under the Resources links. Menu options will be abbreviated or placed across multiple lines so that the width of the drop-down menu does not throw off the alignment of the design for a "medium" or "100%" font size on PC and Mac using IE 5.x+ and Netscape 4.x+ browsers. Cheryl will also implement a style sheet class for the drop-down menu to control the font size. If the site visitor uses a larger font than "medium" or "100%" on his/her browser, the alignment of the table design may be thrown off.
Web Style Guide
Implementation Timeline
TACO approved the timeline on 9/29/2002. Lisa Waits and Paulette Perfumo spoke with Shirley Peck and want the implementation timeline to proceed as is without the necessity of review by the Cabinet.
There were no comments or concerns by WTF members.
Web Team Accessibility Workshop
The Web Team will develop a workshop addressing web accessiblity requirements which will help people meet the accessibility requirements of the Web Style Guide.
Standard Header Images
A design for a standard header was demonstrated. Each standard header image incorporates the official Ohlone College logo, the department's name, a small photograph taken around campus, and a set of standard links (in an image map). A variety of header images will be offered, along with the HTML code for each image. The images will be located in a global directory so they don't need to be downloaded (unless the website designer wants to do so). One of the standard header images can be used instead of the Ohlone College logo in the upper left corner.
This idea was approved by WTF members.
Standard Footer Contents
Academic (Dis)Honesty Policy
Question at hand: Should a link to the Academic Honesty Policy be required to appear in the standard footer for all web pages, including Division/Department/Committee/Other Campus Group/Faculty/Staff webistes? If not, where is it required, where is it optional, where should it not appear at all?
NOTE: Although Cheryl uses the term "Academic Honesty Policy", the true title of the policy is "Academic Dishonesty Policy." Bob Bradshaw will ask the Cabinet about modifying the regulations/policy to reflect the more positive term "Academic Honesty Policy." Links on the website will remain "Academic Honesty Policy" unless the Cabinet chooses to not change the title of that regulation.
The general consensus after discussing this question is that, while the Academic Honesty Policy should be mentioned/linked to as much as possible throughout the Ohlone College website, the standard footer is not an appropriate place to link to it since the policy does not apply to the contents of the page or the website or a computer policy at the campus.
It was proposed that linking to the Academic Honesty Policy be listed in the Web Style Guide as a "strongly suggested" content for Academic Divisions, Academic Departments, and Faculty websites on the Ohlone domain. And, it will be mentioned as possible "additional content" for Committees and Other Campus Group websites.
Cheryl will make these modifications and remove the Academic Honesty Policy link from the Standard Footer, including on all Web Team-managed pages.
Copyright Statement May Be Inappropriate on Some Sites
Bob asked about the appropriateness of requiring an Ohlone College copyright statement (example: Copyright (c) 2002 Ohlone College) on pages for some websites, such as the United Faculty of Ohlone (UFO) website. This site may have content such as contract negotiation information that the College may not want "copyrighted" by itself and that the UFO may not want the College to copyright. The web space for the UFO website was granted to the UFO before rules and regulations for website content and ownership information was developed.
Cheryl supposes the question is: Who owns the content of the UFO website? Of other campus group websites?
Copyright.gov has the following information (link):
WHO CAN CLAIM COPYRIGHT
Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.
In the case of works made for hire, the employer and not the employee is considered to be the author. Section 101 of the copyright law defines a "work made for hire" as:
- (1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or
- (2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as:
- a contribution to a collective work
- a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work
- a translation
- a supplementary work
- a compilation
- an instructional text
- a test
- answer material for a test
- an atlas
if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire….
Since none of us are versed in copyright law, Cheryl requested that this topic be addressed in a future meeting. She will speak with Shirley Peck and Lisa Waits for guidance on this topic.
Linking to Faculty/Staff Websites Not on Ohlone Domain
The Faculty & Staff Websites page currently lists those faculty and staff websites Cheryl was able to discover on the Ohlone College domain (on the main "www" web server as well as on the "online" web server maintained by Online Education). Recently, it came to Cheryl's attention that Rick Arellano, David Bradford, and Jon Degallier maintain class websites off-site, although Rick and David have requested a campus web server user account with the intention of moving their websites to Ohlone's domain.
The question is: Should faculty and staff websites not on the Ohlone College domain be linked to from this page?
The general consensus was that the Faculty & Staff Websites page should list only websites on the Ohlone domain. The websites are then required to meet the requirements of the Web Style Guide, including content, branding, and accessibility. Cheryl will add a statement to the website's Accessibility Statement and Terms & Conditions of Use pages that we cannot guarantee the accessibility of web pages linked to from any Ohlone College web page.
Discussion re Content Restrictions for Faculty and Staff Websites
Raised by Rob Smedfjeld. The trigger for this issue is whether a faculty member can use his/her website on the Ohlone College domain as a business website and whether he/she can link to his/her business website hosted off-site (i.e., not hosted on any of the Ohlone College web servers).
The Computer Systems Use Policy (http://www2.ohlone.cc.ca.us/org/infosys/systemsusepolicy.html) maintained by the IS Department prohibits use of campus equipment, which can be extended to the campus web server, for commercial use.
So, using the web space provided by Ohlone for a business-related website is not allowed. However, links to a website that is a faculty or staff members lawful business should be allowed.
Comments About the Ohlone College Website
Cheryl reviewed comments about our website, including a recent complaint from local businessman who couldn't find the women's soccer schedule. Cheryl sent him a nice reply letting him know that she'd review his comments with the website committee, and listed 6 different ways the women's schedule schedule could be found using the current navigation schemes available on the website.
Emergency