iNews

GUIDELINES: Acceptable Use Policy

• Blogs are to be treated as public spaces. If you wouldn’t say it in open conversation with colleagues, then it is not appropriate for publishing on a blog. The same expectations and codes of conduct apply to blogging as in other areas of your employment. Remember, a blog is a published document, like a newspaper column or departmental newsletter. .

• KCC activities increasingly focus on transformation and innovation; it therefore becomes increasingly important for KCC to share the exciting things we are doing and learning, and to learn best practice from others. Please use the blog in a way that adds value to KCC business.

• The Innovation NewsBlog is provided solely for the purpose of communicating about your Innovative work and ideas. It is not to be used to comment on personal interests you may have outside of your professional interests and your working life.

• Please exercise personal responsibility when you publish onto our blog. You alone are responsible for what you publish.

• Use of Blogs should not interfere with your regular job.

• Posts and comments on the blogs should be positive where possible and criticism should be constructive. When writing your posts and comments, please use the same courtesy that you would show when speaking face-to-face with someone. “Flames”, insults, and personal attacks will not be tolerated. It’s fine to disagree strongly with opinions, ideas, and facts, and to engage in debate, but always with respect for the other person. If you feel another user is harassing you, do not retaliate – inform the administrator.

• You should not publish to your blog using a pseudonym, username or “netname”.not use actual names of children/parents/teachers/or any individuals /departments when writing about subjects that require confidentiality as this may cause offence. Instead, use basic aliases or couch your discussion in general terms.

• Respect copyright, and don’t reproduce material from elsewhere on the Internet without referencing the source e.g. Credit authors from Flickr who release their photos for use under a Creative Commons Licence. It is better to link directly to the original source.

• You may not use your blog to solicit email or other communications that are not directly related to your professional role. It is also not to be used for personal financial gain or for commercial activities.

• Make sure you take every precaution to protect KCC’s reputation and good name. KCC needs to protect its standing and reputation as well as protecting itself and its employees from potential liability for copyright infringement or libel.

• Do not publish any confidential or privileged information, gossip or hearsay. If in doubt as to the confidential status of a particular piece of information, it is always better to ask first.

• Do not publish material that is defamatory or intended to offend, annoy, harass or intimidate another person or persons. This includes ethnic slurs, racist comments, personal insults, obscene/indecent words or suggestions; and be careful of sensitive topics such as politics or religion. Do not entice or encourage other users/commenters on your blog to post such material either, or respond to comments or posts in a way that may provoke aggressive responses.

• Do not publish strong personal or political opinions, which may be misconstrued as being representative of KCC policy or strategy.

• Breaches of the Acceptable Use Policy by any user should be reported to the administrator, who may withdraw access to the blog and/or report such incidents to the offender’s line manager.

• If you are reported as having breached the AUP, this may result in disciplinary action and could result in termination of employment. KCC reserves the right to report any illegal or criminal violations picked up on through the blogs to the appropriate authorities.

• The administrator reserves the right to remove any post without warning, but will generally contact you out of courtesy to explain the reasons for a post’s removal.

• Please make sure all images are under 10k if possible and always under 30k
• Images should have a text equivalent to express their meaning
• Images should only be used where they enhance the meaning of the article
  
• The colour of text and the background should have a large amount of contrast
  
• Use of bold and italics should be used sparingly
• Language should be simple where possible, see the SMOG calculator and readability leaflet
• Avoid use of jargon and make the meaning of acronyms clear (e.g. KCC= Kent County Council)
  

GUIDELINES : Acceptable Use Policy