Website Policies Draft

March 20th, 2007 Posted by Bill Baue

To be presented to the General Meeting 21 March 2007

The Valley Free Radio (VFR) Board has authority over VFR website content, appearance, coding and practices. As an important public face and portal to VFR, website content shall reflect and be in accordance with the VFR mission and vision statements and consistent with all VFR policies and procedures. The VFR website, design, content and files are property of Valley Free Radio. Audio content copyright resides with to the show producers.

The web committee shall operate the website on a day to day basis. The website Managing Editor shall enforce Board decisions and approve all content and changes to site, directly accountable to the Board. The Developer shall direct coding and maintenance of the site. The Web committee will operate in accordance with VFR committee structure.

Web code shall be consistent with Web design best practices. The VFR website will strive towards coding and design that is inclusive and provides access to all, such as people with visual impairments or computers with functional constraints such as connection speed. The site will be in compliance with ADA accessibility standards. VFR should always strive towards delivering valid and accessible code. Code should be validated against the standards established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act.

In accordance with VFR’s mission, website software will prefer open-source and other non-commercial alternatives, and will not require users to use any propriety or fee-based software for access.

General Policies:

The website shall function as a broadcast medium consistent with and in accordance with all VFR policies, such as those regarding profanity, grievances, etc, and will comply with all applicable state, federal, and international laws. In accordance with VFR’s non-commercial mission, there will be no advertising or commercial activity on the website.

The VFR website shall operate in accordance with all copyright laws, including the Fair Use doctrine, and neither host nor link to prohibited content of any kind. Programmers linking to or hosting files at the VFR website are responsible for acting in accordance with copyright laws. Website content is protected under the Creative Common License — Attribution, Non-Commercial, and Non-Derivative. Use of website content beyond VFR is contingent on notifying the Managing Editor of this use.

Links:

The site shall include links to outside websites that are related to VFR programming, Low Power FMs (LPFMs), media reform, and community radio approved by the Website Editor accountable to the Board.

User Generated Content:

User generated content such as comments and blog posts may be moderated by the Managing Editor consistent with VFR’s policies and accountable to the Board.

Committee Chairs:

Committee chairs are responsible for keeping the website editor informed of committee scheduling and news, and providing minutes and other information vital to member access and transparency.

Webmail:

Anyone who volunteers for VFR for more than 3 months is entitled to a myname@valleyfreeradio.org webmail, either with server storage if there is enough space or as a forwarder. Also, any committee or collective is entitled to start their own email list to be used in their completion of Valley Free Radio business. Email lists will be hosted off-site, such as google or yahoo. Email and list use shall be consistent with VFR policies and practices and is subject to revocation at any time by Board determination.

Program Calendar:

Programmers are responsible for keeping the Programming Committee and/or Website Managing Editor up to date with program information.