The SBA has established policy on employee use of the internet/intranet at their work sites using SBA equipment, facilities, or connection services.


II. Content.

A. Agency Controlled Content

1. Location

• (S,P) Official SBA content disseminated on the Web, must be located on SBA Web servers within the sba.gov domain. Only in special situations will the CIO grant a waiver for information to reside on non-SBA.gov servers and that information must first reside on SBA web servers.

  Originally, our site began as www.sbaonline.sba.gov - which then transitioned to www.sba.gov - both addresses will bring one to our site, but the official URL for SBA is www.sba.gov. Full addresses for SBA Web services are:

  1. SBA Public Home Page: http://www.sba.gov
     
  2. PRO-Net Web Site: http://pro-net.sba.gov
  3. HUBZone Web Site: /hubzone/
  4. SBA Gopher: gopher://www.sba.gov
  5. U.S. Business Advisor http://www.business.gov
  6. BusinessLaw.gov http://www.businesslaw.gov
  7. Women's Online Business Center Web Site: http://www.onlinewbc.gov
  8. SBA Sponsered Franchise Registry Site: http://www.franchiseregistry.com
  9. SBA Partner SCORE Web site: http://www.score.org

  These are the official SBA addresses. If anyone sees our data or files on sites using other than an "sba.gov" address, (with exceptions above) it isn't ours and could be a copy of our data that may be out of date. We see some sites copying or caching our information yet being lax in keeping it current. If one wants the latest informatin, they should come to one of the sites listed above.

2. Statement of Purpose

• (S) The content of all pages on SBA WWW servers must be related to the function and mission of the Organization.

• (S) Each public SBA Program Office home page must include, or link to, a specific short mission.html file, which furnishes a statement describing the purpose and content of the document collection. This statement should be considered the "collection policy" for the project. It should be used as a measure of whether a document or link should be included.

3. Approvals:

• (P) Each Program Office within SBA must designate an "Internet Content Custodian" (ICC); responsible for reviewing and approving all pages in that Office's WWW collection, and ensuring updates to existing data. (See SBA Policy Notice)

• (P) Each ICC acts as a central point of contact for adding and removing information on the Program Office Home Page, with the approval of the Program Office manager.

4. Coordination:

• (P) Project implementers must coordinate in advance with the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) when a new project is initiated, or substantial changes are made to existing projects.

5. Clearance of Electronic Information:

• (P) In the case where the material will be made available to the public through the Internet, authorizations comparable to those for any external publication must be obtained, i.e., all information on the SBA http server will be in compliance with the latest policy directions from the Chief Information Officer (CIO), the Office of Administrative Services, and the Office of Public Communications. The form utilized for clearance is SBA Form 58 PDF.
  

• (P) The Procedure for a Form 58 Clearance is to obtain written approval on the form from the following officials:
  
  - The immediate program office manager at the Management Board level
  - The Chief Information Officer
  - The Assistant Administrator for Administration
  - The Director of Public Communications
  

  The OCIO uses an extensive list of clearance criteria and a test checklist found in these [Excel] or [PDF] files.

• (P) Information released must comply with any SBA restrictions.
• (P) Electronic release should be coordinated with release of printed publication so that press releases and other publicity can mention electronic availability and include the Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

• (P) ICC's are responsible for documenting that information made available in unrestricted directories is authorized for public release.

6. Government Information Locator Service (GILS):

• (P) Information sources on the SBA http server will (when appropriate) have GILS records created for identification using the Agency's GILS services. SBA-wide guidance on GILS is available through the Office of the Administrative Services. Contact: Helga Taylor by e-mail or by phone at (202) 205-6623. (Also see the SBA GILS home page)

• (P) ICC's and office staff working on Internet projects are directly responsible for compliance with these standards, policies and procedure, or for recommending changes in items that are in conflict with the goals of their projects.

7. Responsible Party/Contact:

• (S) Every document (or document collection) must have an E-mail address, or a link to an e-mail form that can be used to contact a responsible party regarding the content of the page(s). The E-mail address need not necessarily be that of an Agency employee and may be that of the Webmaster for the WWW server on which the document resides if no content expert can be identified.

• (G) Where personal service is not important, it is acceptable to establish generic e-mail addresses for their public points of contact instead of using personal addresses (e.g., library@sba.gov rather than john.doe@sba.gov). However, many people prefer responding to real people rather than impersonal office mail locations.

• (G) Many SBA program offices publish a link to the SBA Answer Desk at http://www.sba.gov/answerdesk for answering questions from the public. The Answer Desk staff is multilingal and is fully equipped and trained to handle a large volume of public questions about SBA programs.

8. Accuracy and Quality Control:

• (G) Complete accuracy for all online information is an important goal. This is true for both the contents of the document and the construction (HTML syntax) of the document. HTML does not precisely mimic the printed page. The formatting adjustments that are required to present information in HTML are not considered to compromise accuracy if they faithfully convey the information in a document.

• In terms of content, care should be exercised in the following areas:
  • (G) Information on which users may base important decisions (e.g., SBA loan information, Agency policy guidance, regulations, SOPs, etc.).
  • (G) Inaccuracies which compromise meaning (e.g., missing text, misaligned table cells, etc.).
  • (G) Cosmetic flaws (e.g., not italicized publication titles, missing embedded dashes, etc.).
  • (P) Before submitting any HTML document, the syntax, grammar and spelling must be checked and all links verified. A number of good spelling checkers exist on the Internet.
  • (G) Syntax should be checked by using a HTML validation tool such as:
    • Dr. HTML -- http://www2.imagiware.com/RxHTML
    • W3C HTML Validator Service -- http://validator.w3.org
    • Alberta Canada HTML Validation Service -- http://ugweb.cs.ualberta.ca/~gerald/validate

  • In order to ensure accuracy:
    • (P) ICCs must validate the accuracy and integrity of their content every 90 days with the OCIO. Any data that is not validated will be removed from public view until it is fully validated. Validation is carried out through a link on the ICC Home Page at http://yes.sba.gov/library/icc
    • (P) ICCs are responsible for ensuring the quality and functionality of their HTML documents, forms and related programs.
    • (P) ICCs are responsible for ensuring review prior to files being moved to the operational server.
    • (P) ICCs will also be responsible for reviewing a project against the existing SBA WWW Standards and Guidelines.
    • (P) If the requirements of a project are in conflict with these standards, ICCs will submit a request for waiver to the standards to the OCIO. This waiver will be documented by the ICC and the OCIO if approved by the OCIO.
    • (G) ICCs should develop procedures (both manual and automatic) which minimize the chances of errors in source documents and which increase the efficiency by which documents are made available on the web. This is especially important when documents are created in other formats and must be converted into HTML (or other format) for use on the net.

9. Timeliness/Currency:

Effective customer service and the credibility of SBA's public access Internet sites depend on providing information that is up-to-date.

• (P) Information, particularly time-sensitive information such as SBA loan announcements and press releases, must be posted as promptly as possible.
• (P) Out-of-date information must be removed or updated promptly
• (P) It is the responsibility of the Pagemaster for the office that submitted the data, to notify the Webmaster when data should be removed.
• (P) It is the responsibility of the Program Office Data Keeper that submitted the data to notify the Webmaster when data should be removed.
• (P) ICC's must develop procedures (both manual and automatic) which minimize the chances of errors in source documents and which increase the efficiency by which documents are made available on the web. This is especially important when documents are created in other formats and must be converted into HTML (or other format) for use on the net.

10. Organizational Home Pages:

• (P) Each SBA Program Office that offers direct services to the public must maintain a home page that describes the Program Office and its activities furnishes program office services and publications and includes additional outside resources that help SBA customers.
• (P) The Program Office home page must include an appropriate link up the document hierarchy.
• (S) It must also include appropriate links to subservient home pages (e.g., other SBA Program Offices, personal pages, programs, projects, etc. as well as the SBA top level Home Page.)
• (P) SBA Program Offices retain ownership of and responsibility for their information content with the approval of the SBA OnLine Working Group.

11. Personal Pages:

Personal home pages can be useful for those who deal directly with the public or hold high profile positions.

• (P) Personal Pages are permitted only if they relate to and support the functions the individual performs at SBA.
• (P) All information and external links on a Personal Page must also support the functions the individual performs at SBA.
• (P) Personal Pages are considered Project Pages, in that there will be a documented purpose.
• (P) Individuals are responsible for making sure the content of their personal pages and related documents are appropriate and approved by their Program Office management.
• (P) A Personal Page may not be considered as an "electronic office" or an "electronic desktop". Things that might be harmlessly posted on an office wall are not necessarily appropriate to the purpose of a Personal Page.
• Personal pages must include:
  • (S) Name, title, address, phone, email and FAX
  • (S) Short description of programmatic responsibilities
  • (S) Name of the individual who created the page and date of most recent amendment of page
  • (S) Link to division, SBA and SBA home page

12. Procedures:

A separate procedures document will provide details on the specific steps to be taken to use the SBA WWW server for publishing electronic information.

13. Copyrights and Multimedia Documents:

A copyright is the 'rights' of an author or publisher to the 'copy' (text of an article) which that author or publisher produced. This has come to mean the right of intellectual property, whereby authors obtain, for a limited time, certain exclusive rights to their work.

In the United States, copyright protections are exclusively granted under federal law, which derive from Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution. This law provides Congress with the power "to promote science and the useful arts, by securing for a limited times to authors ...the exclusive right to their writings".

In the United States, and most other countries, a work is copyrighted automatically upon creation. No notice is required nor is registration required with a government agency.

• (G) Works that do not enjoy copyright privileges are considered to be in the public domain. Common examples of public domain works are:
  • Works for which the copyright has expired. Expiration of a copyright depends on a number of criteria and can run from 28 to 100 years.
  • Works of the U.S. Government. These works cannot be copyrighted. However, it appears that works that have been created for the Government may have some copyright protection from commercial use.
  • Non-copyrightable works such as title names, short phrases and slogans. (However, these may be trademarks.)
  • Works for which the copyright has been forfeited or abandoned. The most common form of copyright forfeiture is the lack of specific copyright notice on materials published before March 1, 1988. (After that date posting of notice was no longer required to effect a copyright.) Abandonment requires specific language and intent to place copyrighted works in the public domain by the author.
• (G) Copyrighted Works can be "fairly used" without fear of copyright infringement for such purposes as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. Whether the use of a work is fair is determined by balancing these factors:
  • The purpose and character of the use.
  • The nature of the copyrighted work.
  • The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the work as a whole.
  • The effect of the use on the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work.

14. Incorporating Works into Multimedia (Internet) Documents:

• (G) Extreme caution must be exercised in using digital material downloaded from the Internet because there is a mix of works protected by copyright and works in the public domain on the Internet. Access to these works on the Internet does not automatically mean that these works can be reproduced and reused without permission and/or royalty.

• (P) Proper credit should be given for all copyright material. When in doubt, credit should be given as if the material were copyrighted.

• (G) In general no more than 10% of copyrighted textual, motion, music, or collections of illustrations or photographs may be included. In the case of independent illustrations or collections, no more than 5 images of an artist or photographer may be included.

• (G) If there is a possibility that an Internet Product will become part of a commercial product in the future or become widely disseminated then permissions must be sought before publication of the product.

• (G) If any alterations are made to copyrighted material, then care should be taken to explain the specific changes.

B. Linked Content

1. Internal Links:
-- (P) Documents and collections that are not public (i.e., not yet published, not fully marked up or tested, internal working group notes, etc.) may not be linked to publicly accessible documents or placed in publicly available directories without information on the restrictions and an explicit "under construction" warning.

-- (P) Pagemasters must coordinate with the Webmaster to explicitly exclude restricted access documents from site-wide full-text indexes.

2. External Links:

-- An external link is a link to a document that is not on a SBA server, with a URL different than SBA's.

-- An important goal for SBA's collective World Wide Web services is to offer each user full access to the entire expanse of the distributed collection, regardless of the point at which the user enters the system. Reaching the goal of providing the convenience of "one-stop shopping" in a widely distributed system may require that each home page sponsored by the Agency, in addition to serving its own particular constituency and purpose, include links to other Agency pages.

• (P) Links to an external source must be based on the statement describing the purpose of the collection.
• (G) It may be necessary or appropriate to include statements explaining the purpose of the link and disclaiming responsibility for or control over its content.
• (G) Avoid giving a user the impression that the Agency is endorsing a commercial product.
• (G) Avoid giving the impression that the Agency is linking to frivolous (or worse) sites.
• (G)When linking to external sites, ascertain that they do not themselves link to questionable or objectionable sites.
• (S, P) A link to the standard disclaimer, http://www.sba.gov/disclaim.html must be included near the top of the page offering links to the outside world.
• (P) Pagekeepers must ensure that all external links are valid and operational. Dead links inevitably occur on WWW servers as pages are modified, moved, or deleted over time. However, dead links can quickly damage a WWW server's credibility.
• Also see Hotlinking to Outside Resources discussion.

C. Disclaimers

(S, P) SBA Servers and most Agency multimedia documents must carry a Disclaimer of Endorsement and a Disclaimer of Liability for all non-SBA information or links. These disclaimers address references to commercial products and services, as well as merchantability and fitness for purpose.

The following standard disclaimers will be used by the Agency:

• (S) SBA DISCLAIMER OF ENDORSEMENT: Any reference obtained from this server to a specific commercial product, process, or service does not constitute or imply an endorsement by SBA or the United States Government of the product, process, or service, or its producer or provider. The views and opinions expressed in any referenced document do not necessarily state or reflect those of the SBA or the United States Government.

• (S) SBA DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY: Neither SBA, nor the United States Government, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information from this server or the links to servers on the Hotlist. "The information, opinions, data, and statements contained herein are not necessarily those of the SBA and therefore should not be interpreted, acted on or represented as such."

• (S) SBA DISCLAIMER FOR OFFERINGS OF SHAREWARE OR PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE: "SBA SHAREWARE LIBRARY OF FILES AND PROGRAMS DISCLAIMER: SBA adds software programs for downloading based on the software's apparent usefulness to small businesses and its unavailability elsewhere. SBA attempts to ensure that it places only shareware and public domain software on SBA's web site. Users are responsible for payment of all applicable license fees. SBA does not endorse or warrant the particular software which appears here for downloading. SBA's decision to include or exclude a particular program does not reflect the opinion of anyone at SBA on the software's merits.

(P) SBA attempts to ensure that files are free of viruses before they are placed here. However, viruses can escape detection. Users must be advised that use of these files and programs be solely at their own risk. SBA disclaims all liability for damage or loss caused in any manner whatsoever by files downloaded from SBA's web site and by its decision to include or exclude particular software from SBA's web site."

III. Display and Functional Design

A. Display: Presenting a Unified Picture

SBA home pages should be designed to:

• (S) All web pages must have a text only version as an alternate viewing method.
• (S) Blue or red text colors are reserved for unvisited and visted links only and may not be used for highlighting purposes.
• (S) Green text is not to be used in deference to the color blind.
• (G) Include links to each critical and pertinent SBA Program Office and Agency program.
• (G) Accommodate cross-links among programs, projects, and individuals.
• (G) Highlight the Agency initiatives.
• (G) Provide a comprehensive catalog of the Agency's publications and products.
• (G) Host a collection of links to Agency-sponsored Internet sites and external related resources.
• (G) Sponsor topical forums consisting of collections of documents and resources on important Agency initiatives and subjects.
• (G) Help users identify Agency resources and services available to them by subject, role or geographical location.
• (S, P) Be coordinated with the main Agency server in any of the above areas that apply in order to ensure that users who access the main Agency WWW server gain access to the complete range of Agency's information and services.

B. Navigation

• (S) Documents will be designed to minimize users' reliance on the navigational aids in Internet browsers (e.g., back and forward buttons, history lists). The back button, particularly, retraces a path through every page the user has visited rather than logically backing out of a collection. Therefore, agency pages must provide links that move logically forward and backward on the web site, through a document as well as to the table of contents or index.
• (S) There must be explicit links on each Organization Home Page, each page within a document or collection back to the home page for that document or collection.
• (S) The home page for each document or collection must in turn include an explicit link back to the sponsoring Organization or program.
• (S) Linked text, which interferes with readability, must be avoided. Specifically, meaningless words, like the phrases "click here," "select a link below" and "return to" will be avoided.
• (S) Phrases like "back to," and "up to" and "on to" may be used only for specific, highly related sets of documents.
• (S) Instructions that make assumptions about what or where a user has just viewed must be avoided.

• Server-wide Organization.

  • (S) The SBA main Home Page, SBA OnLine, will serve as the starting point for access to individual information sources on the SBA server.
  • (G) The SBA Home Page is organized around the structure of SBA as an organization, and for information about SBA as an organization.
  • (S) Development of web sites and replacements of existing web sites may not change the main site's directory structures or existing file names, since SBA's web site cross references documents across the entire site spectrum.
  • See the Style Section for information on using icons for linking to these starting points.

• Small Business Administration-Wide Organization
  • (P) The SBA http server is the host to the U.S. Small Business Administration's Home Page, SBA OnLine. Other services on the SBA server must link to SBA OnLine consistently. See the Style Section for information on using icons for linking.
  • (S) The SBA Home Page should be referred to as SBA OnLine (the SBA is in all capital letters. OnLine is one unhyphenated word with the O and L in capital letters).
  • (S) Organizational Home Pages will provide links to the organizations immediately above and below that organization; Organizational references to the Small Business Administration should link to SBA OnLine.

C. (S) Style/Markup

1. Titles

• Page titles do not appear in the body of the document. Rather, they are displayed in the title bar of hotlist when customers save or bookmark the page reference.
• Every page should have a title.
• The title should be as short as possible but fully informative and specific (e.g., "FY 1996 sba Budget" is preferable to "Budget").
• The title and top level heading for a page should be the same.

2. Headers

• Every Home Page should have a top-level <H1> header near the top of the first screen which clearly identifies the theme of the home page.
• All other pages should use an <H2> page header.
• Like the title, the header should be as short as possible but fully informative and specific.
• The title and the header for each page should be the same.
• Lower level headers (e.g., H3>, etc.) may be used if appropriate to the document.
• Header markup should not be used to emphasize entire paragraphs.
• Documents that are divided into multiple pages should reference the document's theme in the header of each continuation page.
• Since customers can arrive at any page from an external source, for example by using a full-text search tool, appropriate page headers and titles must establish context and help identify the document.

3. Body

• Paragraphs within the body of a document should be clear and concise.
• Where the audience has a mixed knowledge of the subject, hyperlinks to explanations should be used (e.g., glossaries, graphics, tables, surveys, indexes, etc.).
• Horizontal rules should be used to separate dissimilar paragraphs.
• Text highlighting (italics, bold, underline) should be used sparingly and never to mark an entire paragraph.
• Bold is used for emphasis rather than italics as it is easier to read.
• The blink attribute should never be used for text as it severely limits readability of the text.
• Appropriate links should be provided to glossaries, indexes footnotes, external documents and tables of content.
• Use substance rather than mechanics for linking text. For example: Do not use, "You can read more about this subject by clicking here." Rather use, "The Tutorial will provide more about this subject."
• When possible, do not allow a hyperlink to wrap from one line to the next. Readers find it difficult to distinguish whether it is in fact one hyperlink or two.
• While preventing wrap-around in text paragraphs is difficult, shorter segments of text, such as menu items, are easily and reliable separated into non-wrapping lines.
• A document that has a definite lifespan should include a notice of the date on which it will be deleted to allow customers who want continued access to the document to make a local copy.
• Write to the current HTML standard. Proprietary markup should be avoided.
• Tables should provide alternate preformatted text markup. If tables, drop down menus, or radio/checkbox selection features are used they must be 508 compliant in deference to the blind i.e., they must be navigatable with readers used by the blind.

4. Large Documents

• Long documents published on a single Web page, such as a newsletter, should contain a table of contents near the top of the document.
• Large documents (>300k) should be logically divided and organized into sections or chapters with a table of contents if they are meant to be read primarily in order.
• The table of contents will hyperlink to each article or chapter.
• If the material is meant to be picked through, then a division by section with key word links to appropriate sections should be used.
• Each article, section, or chapter should run as a continuous section, and be visually separated from the previous and following articles by a horizontal rule.
• Each section should also contain a hyperlink/icon to return to the document table of contents
• To assist customers who want to download or print multi-page documents, create a single, compressed file containing all the components. List this file on the document table of contents, along with its size and any specific downloading instructions. For example:

Stds.zip (30Kb) contains the entire SBA WWW Standards, Guidelines, Policies and Procedures in zipped format for downloading.

• Links to files larger than 100 Kb should include an explicit note of the file size.

5. Standard Footers

• All Web pages must have footers which are separated from the body (usually by <HR> and contain the following information:
  • A series of mapped icons or text links which identify the ownership of the page within SBA. The minimum is the SBA Home Page icon/text link.
  • Multi-page documents with a logical sequence will contain icons or hyperlinks which allow the customer to navigate through the document. The customer should not be required to return to the document table of contents after each page in order to link to the next logical page.
  • An e-mail address or pointer to a POC page which will indicate the party responsible for the page. This may be the webmaster, the Datakeeper or the Pagemaster for the page.
  • The URL of the page.
  • The last date the page was updated.
• Footers should be separated from the body by a horizontal rule.

6. Standard Icons and Logos

• Navigational icons are standardized across Agencies and should be used consistently.
• The standard navigational icons are:

	The SBA logo at the top of almost all pages will bring you directly back to SBA's Home Page.
	The black square or circle is a paragraph or item marker and is not hot for clicking.
	The ball is usually a paragraph or menu item marker - it is seldom hot for clicking.
	The square is usually a sub-paragraph or menu item marker - it is seldom hot for clicking.
	The up arrow is usually hot and if clicked, will take you to the top of what is typically a large document.
	The down arrow is usually not hot but suggests that you scroll, arrow down or browse below.
	The left and right arrows are usually hot for clicking and move you back or to the next page of a sectioned publication.
	Will take you to a menu or document.
	Will take you to a menu or document.
	Will take you to a menu or index of publications.
	Will take you to a text document.
	Will take you to an Html document.
	Will take you to a pdf (Adobe Acrobat) image of a document - for downloading only.
	Will take you to a Post Script (Printer) document for downloading only.
	Will take you to a Zipped or Self-extracting Zip File for downloading only.
	Will take you to a telnet site.
	Will take you to our FTP site.

• Agency logos should be used where appropriate.
• Program Offices should develop a graphic logo or banner (within the guidelines defined in this document) to help give a graphical identity and consistent look-and-feel to their pages.
• The SBA seal should be used whenever a seal is necessary.
• Icons like images should specify the alignment, width, and height to facilitate faster loading in advanced browsers.
• An Agency Banner should be used to set aside the start of each program office Home Page.

7. Graphics and Multimedia

• Graphic images should be restricted in size to 50Kb unless unavoidable. Image size can often be significantly reduced without compromising the information conveyed, by reducing the color depth, especially for non-photographic material such as charts, graphs or clip art.
• Limit the number of images to less than three per page and keep the total size of the images to less then 15Kb.
• MIME types should be restricted to .gif,. TIFF,. JPEG,. MPEG, .AU, and .SND.
• Thumbnail images should be used to link to large images.
• Images should not be wider than 472 pixels, in order to display on the typical Web browser's 500 pixel wide viewing window on a 800x600 monitor - SBA designs to a 800x600 window.
• Long, thin images should be avoided.
• The width and height of each image should be specified.
• Every graphic should have an associated (ALT) text.
• Image maps should have alternate selection mechanisms.
• Audio clips should have text transcripts.

D. HTML Structural Code

The following information provides solutions that can communicate to the broadest possible constituency.

• (S) Every image must have associated text.
• (S) When image maps are used, there should be an alternate text method of selection options to accommodate Lynx-based Braille browsers.
• (S) Include detailed descriptive "comments" with JPEG images.
• (S) Provide text transcriptions or descriptions for all audio clips.
• (S) Make link text descriptive but not verbose.
• (S) File formats other than HTML should be used only as alternatives to rather than replacements for HTML. (Examples: Adobe Acrobat, Postscript, etc.)
• (S) Provide alternate mechanisms for on-line forms, such as downloadable files, using the following formats: PDF, EPS, MS Word.
• (S) Do not use proprietary procedural format markup.
• (S) For simple images, such as icons performing the function of bullets, use simple ALT attributes (e.g. "*" or "-").
• All pages should be tested using multiple viewers.

• Browser-specific HTML

  WWW pages should be usable by all major clients to ensure equitable access to the information. Browser-specific HTML should be avoided. If they have adverse affects in other browsers. (Example: <FONT SIZE = +1> is ignored under non-implementing browsers.

• Tables

  Tables, like images, can be an extremely effective way to present information. However, also like images, they can hamper access to information by visually impaired individuals or those with character-only browsers.

  (S) <TABLE> markup should be used when it significantly enhances the effectiveness of information presentation. It should be accompanied by an alternative presentation for those whose browsers or disabilities prevent them from using table markup if the text is unreadable in browsers that do not provide table functionality.
  
  (G) An appropriate use of <TABLE> markup would be to present a statistical table, accompanied by a version of the same information as formatted text(<PRE>) that is eighty (80) or fewer characters in width.

• Important Icons: SBA Home Page.

  (S) The standard icon for the SBA Home Page uses the following URL to display it with the appropriate link.

  <a href="/sba"><img alt="SBA Home Page border=0>"

  src="/pics/image border=0 alt="[Picture of...]"height = ?? width =??></A> 
  

  • (S) Related icons for other services or specific SBA program offices may be appropriate and must be used if available.
  • (S) Project Home Pages on the SBA server will include the SBA Home Page icon and link. It is recommended, but not required, that the SBA Home Page link also be included at other higher-level documents in a document set.
    
  • Project Home Page Identification.
    • (S) Project Home Pages will use either a consistent icon or consistent naming for linking to that home page.
  • Project Status.
    • (S) The phrase "under construction" will be used for a minimum of 4 weeks on SBA developed Pages and does not give leniency for inaccuracies, spelling and grammar errors. It simply indicates that certain items may not yet have links or that other information will be forthcoming. In addition, notes about the current status of a certain feature, or information about anticipated changes in a feature or document collection, are appropriate.
      

  6. Icons

  • (S) Images primarily used as "buttons" or icons must be able to stand on their own, i.e., they should be recognizable and understandable without accompanying text.
  • (S) Icons must also be as small as possible (less than 5K), while still communicating their purposes.
  • (S) Icons used as buttons on the SBA server will normally be 76x76 pixels.
    

  7. Images

  • (S) Images will not be used indiscriminately and will be appropriate to the content.
  • (G) Using images/icons to create consistent and recognizable style to a set of documents is appropriate and encouraged.

  8. Metaphors

  • (G) The use of metaphors to organize information or sets of documents is allowed, e.g., a book metaphor, with a Table of Contents, or a building metaphor with various "rooms".
    

  9. Titles

  • (S) All documents must have titles.
  • (S) Document titles will be as short as possible, but fully informative and specific, e.g., "SBA Conference Schedule" is preferable to "Conference Schedule."
    

  10. Headers

  • (S) The use of HTML headers, e.g., <H1> will be appropriate to the information, i.e., they will be less than 1-2 lines of text.
  • (S) Paragraph length texts of any header levels are not allowed.
    

  11. Other HTML Markups

  HTML documents on the SBA WWW server will take full advantage of all available features in the HTML standard in order to make each document as readable and usable as possible.

  • (G) Project Implementors are reminded that the HTML "Standard" is not fully implemented in all browsers.
  • (S) Projects must use markup appropriate to the capabilities of the browsers used by the target user community, i.e., Netscape, Microsoft Explorer, AOL and Prodigy browsers.
    

  12. Real Information vs. Technical Advice

  • (S) Information of a technical nature (vs. real information) about a given document or set of documents (e.g., advice on which clients to use), will be segregated in separate documents.
  • If the information is brief (See Technical Style Section) it will be marked using <EM> (emphasis) or <STRONG> (strong emphasis).
    

  13. Large Files

  • (S) Links to individual files or collections of links to files larger than 100,000K will include an explicit note of the file size.
  • (S) The note will be marked using <EM> (emphasis) or <STRONG> (strong emphasis).

  14. Proprietary File Types

  • (S) Links and CGI/gateways to individual files or collections of links to files in proprietary formats (e.g., MS Word, Power Point, etc.) will be explicitly noted.
  • (S) The note will be marked using <EM> (emphasis) or <STRONG> (strong emphasis).
  • (S) The addition of non-standard MIME types, which are recognized by the SBA server, will be coordinated with THE OCIO.

  15. URL Styles

  • (S) Relative URLs (for both HREF= and img SRC= values) are to be used whenever possible, in order to keep projects portable. For example, /SBA OnLine/searchpage.html is preferable to http://www.SBA.dla.mil/SBA OnLine/searchpage.html

  16. Images

  • (S) Imbedded images are to be kept to as small a size as possible - no larger than 50K.
  • (S) Images must not be used indiscriminately and will be appropriate to the content.
  • (S) Image markup will use the alt=<text> syntax for usability with character (e.g., lynx) WWW clients.
  • (S) Images which are likely to be used in more than one project on the SBA server (e.g., the SBA logo) must be placed in the /pics directory for sharing.
    

  17. Image Maps

  • (S) ISMAP (image maps) must contain corresponding text links available to users.
  • (S) ALT statements for imagemaps will include the text "Imagemap" to inform users who have not (or cannot) load images that the image is linked to the Imagemap program (which they may not be able to use) and not another document.
  • (G) Client-side image maps do not alleviate the need for server-side image-map cgis, in case the browser doesn't support client-side image maps. Nevertheless, client-side imagemaps are desirable and required for the Intranet.

  18. Standard Mail Form Program

  • (S) Comment/order e-mail forms which simply return sets of field name=value (i.e., most mail forms) will use this link in the action statement: /cgi-bin/mail-fields.pl

  19. URL Names

  • (S) For Project Home Pages, URLs will use simple, understandable words, and be kept as short as possible, (i.e., the index.html standard, which allows a directory name to be used, will be employed). For example, http://www.sba.gov/project/ is preferable to http://www.sba.gov/project/project_home.html. Further, file names must not contain any spaces or special characters.

  20. URL Case

  • (S) All URLs and file names will use lower case, unless Upper Case is required and justified.
  • (S) File names must not contain any spaces or special characters.

  21. Client Instructions

  • (S) Instructions specific to an individual WWW client will be avoided. If they are included, it should be described as an example, and not as a generic instruction.

  22. Feature Variations

  • (G) Document authors should be aware of the variations in features available on different clients and author their documents accordingly.
  • (G) Project staffers are encouraged to be familiar with what is available and what is being used in order to avoid being too conservative, or too liberal, in terms of implementing new functionality. For example, implementing the "mailto:"
  • (G) URL is not necessarily a bad thing (even if it is not widely used) if an e-mail address is explicitly included as well.
  • (G) The use of character clients is also an important consideration.
  23. Font Colors
  • (S) Highlighting must not be conveyed solely through color. (Example: <FONT COLOR=RED> <STRONG>.... </FONT></STRONG> is acceptable since the highlighting is redundantly conveyed using <STRONG>.)

  24. Content vs. Format

  • (S) Document authors should recognize that HTML is as much a method for organizing information by content and structure as it is a formatting language.
  • (S) HTML should be used to structure the content of documents, as well as to format them. For example, headers should be in numeric order if possible; similar documents and elements within those documents should be marked up in a consistent manner.

  E. Frames:(S) Frames are not used on any SBA public access web page. After extensive testing on the most common browsers utilized by SBA customers, we have found navigational problems, slow load times and non-printing frame pages. Frame look-a-likes may be used in select locations. For an example of a frame look-a-like page, go to Headline News.

IV. Programming

A. (P) Perl

• Perl files physically located on SBA Web servers are developed only by Agency Webmasters. Perl scripts developed by outside resources will not be accepted.

B. Imagemap

• (S) ISMAP (image maps) must contain corresponding text links available to users.
• (S) ALT statements for imagemaps will include the text "Imagemap" to inform users who have not (or cannot) load images that the image is linked to the Imagemap program (which they may not be able to use) and not another document.

• (G) Client-side image maps do not alleviate the need for server-side image-map cgis, in case the browser doesn't support client-side image maps. Nevertheless, client-side imagemaps are desirable and required for the Intranet.

C. CGI

(G) Recent exposure of security holes in several widely used CGI packages indicates that the existing documents on CGI security have not taken hold in the public consciousness. These scripts are being redistributed to people that have no programming experience and no way to determine whether they are opening up their servers for attack. This causes considerable frustration for all involved.

(G) The problem with CGI scripts is that each one presents yet another opportunity for exploitable bugs. CGI scripts should be written with the same care and attention given to Internet servers themselves, because, in fact, they are miniature servers. Unfortunately, for many Web authors, CGI scripts are their first encounter with network programming.

(G) CGI scripts can present security holes in two ways:

• They may intentionally or unintentionally leak information about the host system that will help hackers break in.

• Scripts that process remote user input, such as the contents of a form or a "searchable index" command, may be vulnerable to attacks in which the remote user tricks them into executing commands.

  (G) CGI scripts are potential security holes even though you run your server as "nobody". A subverted CGI script running as "nobody" still has enough privileges to mail out the system password file, examine the network information maps, or launch a log-in session on a high numbered port (it just needs to execute a few commands in Perl to accomplish this). Even if your server runs in a chroot directory, a buggy CGI script can leak sufficient system information to compromise the host.

  (P) CGI files physically located on SBA Web servers are developed only by Agency Webmasters. CGI scripts developed by outside resources will not be accepted.

D. Java

• (P) SBA does not accept Java/HotJava technology in its current form.
• (G) SBA is reviewing security problems with Java and will advise when these problems have been corrected. HotJava, the client side of the technology, runs of Unix, Windows NT, and Windows 95 workstations. Many customers may use Windows 3.x and therefore cannot use HotJava applications.

E. (S) Plugins: Applications should not require the user to download a proprietary plugin or other software.

F. (S) Cookies:

The Government, in general, discourages the use of Cookies. However, some applications may require cookies associated with session management.

Permanent cookies or session variables that write to users hard drives are not allowed -- any exception would require approval by the SBA Administrator


The use of Cookies requires a standards waiver. Requests for a waiver must provide the following detail:

1. The name of the proposed Cookie
2. Full explanation of why the Cookie is critical to the application
3. Reasons why alternatives are not viable
4. Detail on the content the Cookie collects (see Cookie content below)
5. Description of how the information is used in the application
6. Cookies must be transient, i.e., session based.
7. Cookies must be described fully in SBA's Web Privacy Statement on the home page.
8. Cookie content must have a secure option enabled and include:
• the session ID or authorization information;
• the time and date the cookie was issued;
• an expiration date and time (must be within 2 hours after session ends);
• the IP address of the browser the Cookie was issued to; and
• a Message Authenticity Check (MAC) code (Pending).

G. Other: Coming

V. Additional Points.

A. Reinventing the Wheel

• (G) Anyone who is about to contribute to the SBA Web is encouraged to explore the Internet to identify sites that might have already invented the wheel.
• (G) They are also encouraged, when they create processes and procedures, to consider whether to generalize them for use in other situations at the SBA in the future.
• (P) Pagemasters should consult the main Agency WWW server and its project staff for advice on Web design, implementation, and maintenance, as well as Web-related tools and techniques.

B. Developmental Testing

• (S) All pages should be tested and must be readable using multiple viewers - specifically, Netscape 4.06 and higher, Microsoft Explorer 4.x and higher, AOL's latest browser and the same Netscape and MSIE versions in MacIntosh. Where specific needs for extensions are required, they should be based on capability, not vendor. Examples: SSL encryption, file-upload tags, etc. Since many of the public users are browsing with MacIntosh systems, consideration should be given to the capabilities of MAC browsers.

C. Training.

• (G) SBA staff are encouraged to obtain training and information necessary to implement their WWW projects.
• (G) OCIO offers Basic Internet classes and conducts monthly Internet User Group Meetings.

D. Usage Reports.

• (G) Project leaders should review and analyze the usage reports on their documents and document collections, and use this information to improve their services.

E. The Changing WWW environment

• (G) Project leaders are reminded that the WWW/HTML environment is changing rapidly; the number of users and servers is growing tremendously; new software for browsing, authoring, converting, serving and searching becomes available every week. The sources for these new products are both commercial and from those making their products freely available. Project leaders should from time-to-time evaluate the needs of their projects against the changing environment and make adjustments accordingly.

F. Continuous Improvement

• (G) Project leaders should take advantage of the "live" nature of WWW services by continuously improving their services. While frivolous and arbitrary change may be distracting to users, improvements to services based on user feedback, new ideas for organization, new HTML features, etc. will keep services fresh and will provides users reasons to take another look.

G. Security

Operation of a WWW server opens up numerous potential security issues that must be addressed. The Webmaster has primary responsibility for the server's security. But project Pagemasters must be aware of security considerations, particularly in areas such as Java and CGI script development where potential risks abound. See the security references cited below for additional information.

• (G) Anchors, embedded images, and all other elements that contain URIs as parameters may cause the URI to be dereferenced in response to user input. In this case, the security considerations of [URL] apply.
• (G) The widely deployed methods for submitting form requests -- HTTP and SMTP -- provide little assurance of confidentiality. Information providers who request sensitive information via forms - especially by way of the `PASSWORD' type input field -- should be aware and make their users aware of the lack of Confidentiality.

H. Usage Monitoring

• (P)Usage statistics will be developed by the Webmaster and reports generated on a scheduled basis.
• (G) Project leaders should review and analyze the usage reports generated by the server for their documents and collections, and use this information to improve their services and public information access.

VI. Emerging Standards.

The nature and character of the Web is constantly changing. This page is dedicated to standards that are widely accepted, but limited in availability. Soon, many of these will be available to the masses. Even now, some may be appropriate to utilize for specialized groups. All merit consideration and investigation as the future is just around the corner.

A. Java

(G) Java is a new computer programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. It is Object Oriented, fully threaded, and patterned after C++. Java is interesting to those who work on the Internet because it can open and access objects across the net via URLs and is architecturally neutral. It purports to runs in a safe (secure) environment, however many security problems have arisen over its use.

(S) It is not an SBA standard at this time and may not be used in programming for the SBA WWW.

HotJava is a Web browser written by Sun Microsystems in the JAVA programming language. Today, HotJava is the only browser that will run Java applications (call applets). Netscape has licensed Java for incorporation into their browser. A decision has not been made as to whether Java support will be included in the Windows Mosaic browser.

To find out more about Java and HotJava try:

Java (TM) Programming for the Internet

http://www.javasoft.com

Java FAQ

http://www.nymug.org/javafaq.html

B. Java Script

Java Script is an interpreted text language that is also executed ion the browser. It's currently more useful than Java, because it has direct links in HTML that are ignored if the browser doesn't support Java Script. Java Script is useful for data validation, but because the user can turn off Java Script or may use non supportive browser it does not eliminate the need for server-side data validation.

C. VRML

Virtual Reality Modeling Language is an evolving markup language that promotes a graphical page format. VRML utilizes intuitive navigation and interaction rather than text, and icon based interaction. For example, a VRML page may display a picture of a room. Querying objects in the room such as clicking on a television, or a book, may start a movie, or display text. Moving from link to link could be accomplished by opening the door to another room. Current estimates are this technology will become mature enough to use and a hot technology over the next year or so.

To find out more about VRML try: On the Net: VRML Resources at …

http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/knowledge_base/vrm.html or

NCSA VRML Home Page at…

http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/VRML/VRMLHome.html

VII. Home Page Checklist, Templates, and Requirements.

A. Content

1. The content of a page should be related to the SBA and SBA Program Office function and mission.
2. The specific purpose for each home page should be stated.
3. Documents should be approved using the standard SBA approval process before publication.
4. Each home page should have a published responsible party for content with an e-mail address.
5. Information within a document should be accurate.
6. A document should be syntactically correct.
7. Spelling and grammar should be correct within a document.
8. Information within a document should remain current.
9. Document data should comply with agency restrictions.
10. Documents should comply with organizational templates.
11. External links should be germane to the purpose of the document.
12. External links should include the title and the URL.
13. Navigational/Organization
14. Each page in a collection should have a link to the collection's home page.
15. Each home page should link back to the sponsoring home page.
16. Links should be checked periodically to avoid "dead links".
17. When the home page is moved to a new location leave a note at the old location.
18. A text only version is included for each and every html, Word, Excel, or PDF document.

B. Program Office Home Page Templates and Ingredients

1. To guide SBA staff in authoring documents which conform to SBA information dissemination policy, the following templates are presented.
   • Program Office Home PageHtml
   • Program Office Home PageText

2. The following are suggested ingredients for inclusion in a Program Office home page:
   • Links to program office mission statement or purpose
   • Links to other program offices that are appropriate and needed
   • Link to program office directors' pages
   • Link to SBA disclaimer for any non-SBA documents or links
   • Individual who created the page and date of most recent amendment of page
   • Link to SBA home page
   • Up to date text describing the offices' areas of responsibilities
   • Links to approved Program Announcements
   • Links to division programs
   • Personal Staff page requirements

C. Field Office Home Page Templates and Ingredients:

1. To maintain a consistent corporate image, the following are templates for Field Office (District Office) home pages"

   Item	View Sample Picture of a Page	View Live Site Text Version	View Live Site Html
   District Office Home Page - Format, Look, and Style		Text
   New District Office Home Page - Format, Look, and Style. Effective 7-10-98 a new interface and look has been established. Transition to this look will occur in the next few months		Text

   Note: Text Only versions of web pages must accompany the graphic versions.

2. The following are the essential elements of information expected to be displayed on the Field Office (District Office) home pages linking to or showing state-specific information:

   • Yellow Graphic of State Map with District Office Name
   • U.S. Small Business Aministration Title
   • Name of District Director (Hotlink to Biography - names cannot be changed nor listed as "Acting" unless cleared by the HQ Internet team with Field Operations)
   • Optional: Added Link to Branch Office Manager and Biography (Branch Office home pages may be deemed redundant to the District Office sites and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.)
   • Hotlink to ABOUT THE DISTRICT OFFICE file
   • Hotlink to Street Map, address and phone number
   • Local SBA Offices (Includes surrounding states for boundary dwellers)
   • Calendar of Events (Points to Main Calendar Area)
   • Special Events (Unique brochure-like events)
   • Service Corps of Retired Executives
   • Small Business Development Centers
   • Small Business Investment Companies
   • Certified Development Companies
   • Preferred/Certified Lenders (Note: hotlinks to individual lenders are not permitted).
   • Approved Microloan Participants
   • Business Information Centers
   • One Stop Capital Shops
   • U.S. Export Assistance Centers
   • SBIR/STTR Awards
   • State Economic Profiles
   • Other State Information (Outside Resources - must have the bye-bye command signifying departure from SBA's site).
   • Disaster Assistance
   • Business Cards
   • Assets for Sale
   • Search SBA Site
   • SBA Site Map
   • E-mail Link to District Content Custodian
   • Link to Webmaster for technical issues

   
   

D. Special Pages

1. Frame Look-a-Likes:
   Frames are not used on any SBA public access web page. After extensive testing on the most common browsers utilized by SBA customers, we have found navigational problems, slow load times and non-printing frame pages. In certain cases, a frames look-a-like page will be used at the discretion of the Internet Office. Further, any files we have that exceed 300k will be broken into smaller viewing pieces whenever possible or offered for download only.

   Samples of this type of page are shown at http://www.sba.gov/news, and http://www.sba.gov/services

2. Use of U.S. Maps:
   SBA utilizes a particular "mapping" program to hotlink each state to its own special area.
   
   Sample

E. Hotlinks to Outside Resources:

1. All hotlinks to outside resources must contain the following (example):
   (a href=/cgi-bin/byebye.pl?TO=http://www.somewhereoutsidesba.com)

   This will take the visitor to a transition page stating that they are leaving SBA's web site.

2. The bye bye page will have the standard SBA disclaimer. (Also see "External Links" discussion).

F. Optional material for all SBA pages:

1. Links to official material on SBA server (e.g. SBA phone book, press releases, News tip sheets, SBA bulletin, Award Database)
2. What's New
3. Scientific highlights and images
4. Frequently Asked Questions
5. Staff public speeches and public presentation materials
6. Links to press releases
7. Public meetings
8. Links to grantee pages, disciplinary data, reports and other scientific information on the Internet
9. Staff photos, sound clips, videos
10. Comments/philosophy from the Program Director
11. Professional and personal information ( for personal staff pages)
12. Email capability through Web pages for comments

G. Sample Large Document Templates:

1. Table of Contents: a table of contents structure with links to each chapter

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Overview PART I: Becoming An Export Success Story
3. CHAPTER 1: Making the Export Decision
   • International Business Plan
4. CHAPTER 2: Identifying International Markets
5. CHAPTER 3: Foreign Market Entry
6. CHAPTER 4: The Export Transaction
7. CHAPTER 5: Export Financing
1. Sample Chapter: a sample page from a chapter
Making the Export Decision

Exporting is crucial to America's economic health. Increased exports mean business growth, and business growth means more jobs. Yet, only a small percentage of potential exporters take advantage of these opportunities. It is critical for U.S. businesses to think globally. Your decision to read this book indicates an interest in exporting. However, you may have discovered your company is already competing internationally -- foreign-owned companies are competing with you in your "domestic" markets. The division between domestic and international markets is becoming increasingly blurred.

2. Sample Alphabetized Subjects

A mapped alphabetic locator at the top of the page takes you to each letter...each letter returns to the mapped locator...off page navigational buttons are built into the locator...Example...

List of Federal Government WWW Servers

VIII. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) -- Coming Soon

IX. WWW Security

A. Background Information:

1. Individuals accessing documents on World Wide Web servers using Web browsers are generally in read-only mode, and cannot modify the source document on the server.

2. Web browsers can parse and view hypertext files that reside on the same computer where the client is running - a network connection is not required to access local files. Thus the preferred method is to develop Web documents on an individual's desktop computer, viewing it locally with a browser as changes are made until the document is satisfactory. There is no need for documents that are not yet public to reside on a public server.

3. Commercial software released for more secure servers and clients (encryption and authentication) will be available and is currently being examined by SBA for desirable features.

B. SBA Security Implementation:

SBA will use several mechanisms to ensure that SBA staff have easy but controlled access to the SBA public server:

1. There will be only one location for Web servers in SBA providing a central focus for policy and systems administration.

2. Read/write access to these SBA servers is controlled by THE OCIO. The accounts on the servers allow file transfer to/from servers, but do not allow standard UNIX login. Thus SBA staff will not in general be able to use SBA servers as stand-alone computers.

3. An area on the SBA Web server will be established for each SBA program office and District Office. Access to each individual home page data is managed by the OCIO staff in partnership with the program office project leader.

4. At the present time, it is expected that the SBA Web server will contain only public documents which comply with SBA policy and have been placed on the server by someone authorized to do so. Documents that require accounts and passwords, plus non-public servers, are also planned for the near future.

X. SBA's Privacy Policy.

SBA's Privacy statement is available on the main home page and defines what information the site collects from customers and how that information is used. The policy statement applies to all SBA Internet, Intranet and Extranet services.

XI. Internet Glossary of Terms.

*Last Modified: 4-3-02