Standards and Guidelines for Circle Ten District Web Sites
Guidelines - adapted from BSA National guidelines for Council websites
- Rules and Regulations
Districts are a primary means of delivering the Scouting program to our volunteers and the general public. Much of this takes the form of publishing or advertising. Just as in other publishing and advertising, districts are free to develop their own applications of Internet and Web technology, as long as they observe the rules and regulations of the Boy Scouts of America, as required by their charters. The Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America, No. 57-492, and the Charter and Bylaws of the Boy Scouts of America, No. 57-491, are primary resources for these policies and procedures. Other guidelines, such as this document, are issued by the Circle Ten Council to provide more specific and detailed guidance.
- Representation
While the Circle Ten Council provides guidelines by which it will acknowledge local districts' sites and refer others to them, each of these sites is the product and possession of the local district, however these sites represent the Circle Ten Council as well as the district that maintains it.
- Circle Ten Council Standards
The Circle Ten Council will not acknowledge or provide links to any district site that does not meet these eight guidelines. The guidelines may be altered or amended to provide updated information, and districts will be notified when that happens. The guidelines that are posted on the web will be deemed as the most current and will supersede any previously posted versions or any printouts of these guidelines.
- Approval Guidelines
1. The district must have direct control over the content of its official Web site.
2. The content of the district site must be appropriate to the Scouting movement.
3. The district site cannot contain links to any sites that contain material that is not appropriate to the Scouting movement.
4. The district site cannot contain any advertisements or commercial endorsements.
5. The district site cannot engage in the electronic sale of BSA Supply Division merchandise or competing products.
6. The district site cannot replicate any BSA publication currently for sale through the Supply Division.
7. District sites must abide by all laws regarding copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property, and by those pertaining to the Internet.
8. District sites must consider the safety and privacy of their members and participants by obtaining the necessary permissions to release information about or images of any individual.
- Advice for Personal and Unit Websites
The information that follows supports these guidelines by providing more specific information on practices and procedures that may be implemented for producing and maintaining a site that successfully meets the guidelines. Additional information is presented that extends into areas that the guidelines do not address to cover topics and procedures that are advisable, but not strictly requisite.
When considering whether to acknowledge or link to a district Web site, the Circle Ten Council will assess the district's Web site in comparison to the guidelines above.
