To maintain consistency, accuracy, accessibility, and overall quality of content and design, printed publications representing The Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real are required to follow certain guidelines and even be reviewed prior to publication.  Web page developers are encouraged to learn the Publications Policy, as it applies to Web pages, and to incorporate those guidelines into their pages.  This will save time in getting materials published, and ensure that material is accessible and usable by the all users of the website.

• Mission of the Website
• Administration, Communications Committee and Website Advisory Board
• Security and Privacy
• Design and Hosting
• Content Policy
• Style Guidelines
• Copyright Guidelines
• ECR Graphics - Logos, Seals, Etc.

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Mission of the Website

The website of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real supports the mission and ministries of the diocese. It acts as

• a communications vehicle to disseminate information about the Christian faith, the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of El Camino Real

• an information gathering and exchange resource

Administration, Communications Committee and Website Advisory Board
The website operates under the Ecclesiastical Authority of the diocese, who is the "publisher."  Direct administration of the website is under the supervision of the Diocesan Administrator, who may assign individuals or groups to assist in that work.  The Administration of the website is governed by policies and guidelines developed by the Communications Committee,  and approved by the Ecclesiastical Authority.   This includes general policies for content and style, and prioritization of processing material for publication.  The Website Advisory Board is responsible for recommending, maintaining and executing website policy and guidelines, including style guidelines and page template specifications. 

Security and Privacy
The website subscribes to known best practices for internet security. 

• This website does not track visitors to the website.
• The diocese maintains several lists of diocesan leadership offline: all clergy, vestry members and delegates, commission and committee membership, diocesan staff.  Names are published in the diocesan website directory by consent, for the purpose of making members of the diocesan community accessible to one another.
• Every effort is made to mask email addresses to prevent automated engines from harvesting email addresses from the site and using them to send spam and spoof addresses.
• Putting cookies on users' hard-drives is avoided.
  • In the future, session cookies (cookies deleted when the user closes the browser) may be employed for functions that require a login and password.  No such function currently exists.
  • When cookies are used, it will be disclosed explicitly to users.
• Access to posting of materials will be restricted for protection from malicious alteration of the website.
  • All access to post materials to the website must be approved by the Diocesan Administrator.
• The diocese is committed to protecting the identity of children. 
  • The website will not associated the full names of individual members under the age of 18 with their photos.  First names only may be used, and only with written permission from a parent or legal guardian.  To achieve this, this website avoids the following practices, among others:
    • Use of mouse-over text to show the name of a person in a picture
    • Use of persons' names in filenames
    • Identifying people under the age of 18 by name in cap

Design Guidelines and Hosting

• The website design takes into consideration "common-denominator technology", avoiding scripting and display protocols which waste memory resources or strain download times. The design of pages that need to be accessible by a majority of users should support a 28.8/bps (slow) download speed.
  • As a result of this constraint, it is possible that some requests for functionality on the website may be denied, because implementing the request would inhibit the accessibility of the site. 
  • More detail about accessibility is described in the Style Guidelines.
• The diocese does not currently provide or pay for space on its host server for websites other than those directly funded by the diocesan budget.
  • To achieve the goal of evangelism, information will be posted to the website that is sufficient for allowing visitors to find congregations.
  • Additional information may be posted for congregations that cannot afford their own websites, as deemed appropriate and as approved by

Content Policy

• Material to be posted to the website should be emailed to the Communications Coordinator, except for material for established web subsections where transmission directly to the Web Sacristan is pre-approved. 
  • Material for established web subsections is accepted only from authorized persons.
    • Contents will be reviewed by the Communications Coordinator who may seek assistance when necessary. Since many items for the website come through the Diocesan office, the Coordinator will also work with the Diocesan Administrator.
    • Material submitted to the Web Sacristan by the Communications Coordinator is automatically authorized.  This includes the weekly Meditations, Standing Committee Updates, Council Reports, and so on.
    • If the material submitted is for the web subsection of a Commission or Committee, submissions must come from the chair of that committee or commission or a designated back-up, such as the vice-chair.
    • Material for the "Jobs" page should be submitted to the Canon for Evangelism and Congregational Development
  • Any request that requires the creation of a new major subsection of the website will be reviewed and approved by the Website Advisory Board.  If the request is denied, the requestor may appeal to the Communications Coordinator.
  • A forum section will be established for online discussion of Diocesan topics by anyone in the Diocese
• Unless this is a routine submission, information should include:
  • The purpose of the material and intended audience
  • What web subsection the material is to be posted to
  • Whether the content is to be posted as standing content or as temporary content
  • If temporary, the anticipated removal date should be specified
  • ... what else?
• Style Guidelines and Copyright Guidelines must be adhered to.
• Documents longer than 2 pages may be posted on the ECR website
• Advertising or promotional materials not in support of the mission and ministry of the church are not accepted by the site.
• Requests for links to and from other websites will be evaluated by the Website Advisory Committee or a designee (usually the Web Sacristan). 
  • Links to and from sites which contain material contrary to the mission and ministry of the church will not be permitted.
  • Denials may be appealed to the Communications Coordinator.
• Sexist, racist, defamatory, abusive, harassing, or other offensive language or images are prohibited.
• Archival of illegal software is prohibited.
• The anticipated turnaround of most postings  is 24 hours or less

Style Guidelines

Accessibility is very important.  Many visitors and members of the community do not have the latest web browsers or high-speed connections.  Churches and international users with internet access often do not have new computers capable of running the latest software.  The website subscribes to known best practices for readability and accessibility. 

The specific styles to be used for the new website are still under development, but the following practices are maintained:

• Accessibility
  • While we cannot accommodate every possible browser and every possible version of browser, every effort is made to avoid features that cannot be supported by versions of major browsers that are easily and freely available.
    • Web content is tested on Internet Explorer, Netscape and Mozilla Firefox.
  • Fonts available to most commercially supported computers are used.
    • A user's browser will only display text on a web page using the fonts that user has on their own computer.  Therefore, using special fonts will not have the desired effect unless every possible user of the internet has the same fonts installed.
    • If a content wishes special fonts to be used for effect, such as in a flyer, the material must be submitted as a PDF file, or else the fonts must be provided along with the source material so that the material can be converted to PDF or a graphic.
  • "Flash" technology, Java applets and other types of embedded applications are memory intensive and will not be used on any page that must be generally accessible.
  • Frames and javascript are to be used sparingly, if at all.
  • Any functionality requiring special plug-ins or other software not already widely distributed is to be avoided.
    • An exception is documents formatted for Adobe Acrobat® (.pdf), since the Adobe Acrobat Reader® is widely distributed and commonly used.
  • Excessive amounts of graphics cause pages to load slowly and will not be used on any page that must be generally accessible.
  • The use of fonts smaller than 10 points is avoided.
  • Color schemes that work for most types of color-blindness are used
  • When a graphics image map is used, every effort is made to make an alternative all-text link or menu available.
  • Distracting elements such as scrolling marquees and blinking text are to be avoided.
• Completeness
  • Pages will be incorporated into the site only when they are fully developed.  "Under construction" or "Check back here for further information" pages are not encouraged.
  • The exception is that important events may be noted on the calendar while or elsewhere so that members of the community know to hold those dates aside while we await further details.
• File Types
  • While most computers have translation filters that allow PC users to open Mac files and vice-versa, these options to not always exist.  Content will be published to maximize accessibility.  For example, most Microsoft Word and Excel documents will be converted to PDF for publication. 
  • Occasionally, documents may be published in their source format for the convenience of the members of the diocesan community.  For example, modifiable forms or templates might be published so that congregations can adapt them.

Copyright Guidelines
The website adheres to all laws applicable to copyright and intellectual property rights.

• Except where noted, all materials posted on the website are copyright to the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real. 
• The use of materials copyrighted by other parties, including copyrighted graphics, will be clearly credited in accordance with current laws and usage practices, and may not be used unless proper copyright permissions are obtained.
• The ECR wordmark and seal are not to be used without consultation with the Communicators Coordinator or his/her designees.