91´«Ã½

These policies, guidelines, and standards are intended for LIRT Steering Committee members and LIRT Committee members who may develop pages that will be available as links from the LIRT Home Page.

Table of Contents

• < >

General Policies

• All Web pages posted at this site must fit within the of LIRT.
• Any LIRT Committee, Task Force, or Officer may submit Web pages to be attached to the LIRT Web page.
• Documents may be submitted either as HTML documents or as formatted documents (MS Word for Windows, MS Word for Macintosh, WordPerfect for Windows, or Rich Text Format (rtf)) that need to be converted to HTML.
• Use of the LIRT Web Pages is required so that a standard appearance among the LIRT pages can be achieved. An unflattened Photoshop file is so that the header image can be created. If you are unfamiliar with creating image files, the Electronic Resources Manager can create the header image for you.
• Anything documents requiring CGI scripting (forms, options menus, etc) or restricted access (access only by committee members, for example) must be coordinated with the LIRT Electronic Resources Manager.
• Provide all graphics as gif or jpeg files along with the html documents that use them.

Beyond the general policies mentioned above, there are additional standards and guidelines listed below. Those items listed under "Required" must be adhered to if the pages to be linked to the LIRT Web pages. For questions or comments regarding these policies, standards, and guidelines, contact the LIRT Electronic Resources Manager.

Required

Content --

• On every page provide the name, address, and e-mail address of the person or entity responsible for the management of those pages.
• Provide the date of the last update on all pages (month, date, 4-digit year).
• Full name of the Committee, Task Force, etc. (in title heading, document text, address, and/or graphical link) and/or URL in order that the source can be found again.

Design --

• At the bottom of each page, use the standard buttons that provide links to return to the LIRT Home Page, the LIRT Newsletter, the 91´«Ã½ Home Page, the IS page, and the LOEX page on all major pages.
• Provide a link to return to the parent page on all supporting local pages (e.g., if the PR/Membership Committee has several links from a main page, those pages should have a link back to the main page).
• All "title" tags should include "LIRT", as well as the name of the document (e.g., LIRT Committee Volunteer Form).

Procedural/Technical --

• Provide a plan on how revisions will take place (schedule for updating, who will do them, etc.) When appropriate, the LIRT Electronic Resources Manager will periodically e-mail a standard reminder notice to those responsible for specific pages to review and revise pages and to update links.
• Test links before mounting as well as set a schedule for checking links and removing dead links.
• Spell-check and proofread documents.
• If using graphics for links, use the "Alt=" tag for the benefit of those browsers without graphics capabilities or for those people who turn off the graphics capabilities of their browsers.
• Do not use spaces or special characters (/ , * , # , @ , & , etc.) in file names.
• End all web page file names with .html or .htm
• Conform to HTML 2.0 or 3.0 Document Type Definition (DTD) -- avoid the use of browser specific tags.

Recommended

Content --

• Provide a copyright statement (if/when applicable).
• Indicate restricted access where appropriate.
• Provide a warning statement if a link will lead to large document or image.
• Avoid browser-specific terminology (e.g., "From the 'File' menu, select 'Save'").
• Use link text that makes sense even if a link isn't present, as with a paper copy (e.g., "Information about the LIRT Newsletter is available." instead of, "For information about the LIRT Newsletter, click here.")

Design --

• Use a (or style sheet) to provide visual consistency across related documents.
• Provide short and simple pages (e.g., the entire page can be seen within 3 screens).
• Use a small graphic or banner that identifies all the documents associated with a particular committee.
• Avoid large graphics and many small graphics on a single page (consider using "thumbnail" graphics whenever appropriate).
• Specify the size of the graphic in the image source link.
• Use "Hot buttons" or a "Table of Contents" for short cuts to most important links on each page, if appropriate.
• Use a minimum of text in lists or menus.
• Use html tags as intended instead of forcing them to serve as a typography device (e.g., use headings <H1> as true headings, not just to achieve bold text).
• Sparing use of italics, blinking, etc.

Procedural/Technical --

• Source code (mark-up language) that is easily read (e.g., liberal use of line breaks, white space, and comments).
• Check finished document with a variety of browsers, both text (Lynx) and graphical (Netscape, Internet Explorer, etc.), and platforms (IBM or PC compatible, Apple, etc.).
• High-level elements in every document:
  

  <HTML>
  
  <HEAD><TITLE> </TITLE> </HEAD>
  
  <BODY>
  
  </BODY>
  
  </HTML>

• Low-resolution thumbnail images in text pointing to full-resolution external images.